Redemption
by Pandean
Summary: WindClan has never been the focus of any prophecies and the aftershocks of the Great Battle and Storm still rock the Clan. When WindClan's deputy, Harespring, is found dead and curled around a young kit, traitors will be exposed and dark secrets will be revealed. Who is Flightkit, exactly, and why was WindClan's loyal deputy found dead by her side that fateful night?
1. Redemption: Prologue

_Prologue_

The moonlight filtered through the trees on the island, guiding the way for the cats trekking home from the Gathering. For once, no threats or arguments broke up the night and no clouds covered the sky. StarClan's peace had been held, though Onestar himself was still smarting over the fact that ThunderClan was involved in a new prophecy. ShadowClan too, now that they'd claimed the other kit.

He supposed it wasn't something that could be helped. ThunderClan was the apple of StarClan's eye and it looked to him like they'd stay that way. Perhaps it was his Clan's destiny to go unnoticed, undetected-they were more invisible than the ShadowClan warriors that stalked in the night when it came to their ancestors.

Onestar lifted his tail, signaling for his cats to climb across the Tree-Bridge. His Clan was strong, even if it wasn't in the spotlight. Back in camp, his daughter was nursing her newborn kits, his deputy was keeping watch vigilantly in case of a nighttime raid. He had that to be grateful for, at least. Even if he thought his reign was marked with bad luck ever since Mudclaw's failed coup, he couldn't deny that WindClan were doing quite well lately.

He hopped up on the Tree-Bridge, purring with amusement as he saw Breezepelt kneading the worn bark with his paws as he slowly made his way across. "Eager to get back to camp?" he called.

Breezepelt almost fell off the log, eliciting purrs from the other WindClan cats. The smoky black cat lashed his tail and hissed, but for once his barbed tongue was quiet. Onestar had noticed a slight change in him ever since his mate-Onestar's daughter-had kits. He feared at first for Smokekit and Brindlekit-their father _was_ a willing accomplice to the Dark Forest and though Onestar had kept him close instead of exiled him like many of his council argued, he always kept one eye on the dark tom. He would he know what type of father he'd be? Of course, Onestar couldn't exactly blame him. The disaster that was Crowfeather and Nightcloud's relationship wouldn't exactly make for a well-adjusted cat. Everyone in WindClan could see through Crowfeather and Nightcloud's relationship-it was obvious every time some cat caught Crowfeather staring across the border and whenever Nightcloud cast a sad glance toward the nursery.

The WindClan cats crowded at the end of the log, their fur fluffed up in the cool leaf-fall air. The anticipation between them was almost tangible-waiting until everyone was finally off so they could run as fast as the wind itself until they were back home. Onestar yowled his go-ahead and the Clan raced forward, their pelts blurring in the night.

At camp Kestrelflight was giving Heathertail another dose of borage. Her milk was coming as well as it could for her newly born kits, but the crisp leaf-fall air would slowly turn into frigid leaf-bare and he'd seen himself how the fresh-kill pile dwindled into nothing once the rabbits went below ground. Heathertail would need all the milk she could make for her kits then.

The she-cat winced at the taste. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that," she said.

Whitetail, an elder and the young queen's mother, purred. "I said the same when I had you! It's worth the taste though."

Heathertail gazed at her two kits with eyes full of love. "Anything for these little ones." Smokekit wandered a bit from her mother's belly and Heathertail gently guided the she-kit back with her tail. "She's going to be a stubborn little thing, like her father."

Kestrelflight's gaze darkened. He hoped to StarClan neither of the kits took after their father. He'd been vocal about his opinion about Breezepelt. A cat who willingly fought for the Dark Forest could never properly be with his Clan again. But by the time it came to a vote, Heathertail was already pregnant with the tom's kits and the majority of the senior warriors thought it'd be too cruel for them to grow up without a father. _It'd most likely be the opposite._ He thought.

"Both are fine kits," he said. That at least was true.

A caterwaul made the medicine cat run outside. "Kestrelflight!" The yowl of his leader had the medicine cat's spotted hackles raise. _StarClan, please let it be okay!_ He raced out of the nursery as the party from the Gathering crowded in the small clearing and the sleeping cats woke up and padded out to find them.

A anguished cry went out from one of the she-cats. The WindClan deputy, Harespring, lay dead in the hollow. His brown-and-white fur covered in blood. Onestar stood with his head bowed. "We found him by the border with RiverClan, already dead."

Cries of outrage filled the night air. "They dare kill our deputy on the night of the truce?" Nightcloud yowled. "We should attack at once!"

Other cats meowed in agreement. "Make them pay!"

"Fox-hearts!

"Fish-faced, crowfood eaters!"

Kestrelflight padded up to Harespring's steadily cooling body. There was no smell he recognized on it-not a fox or badger or RiverClan's fishy stink. He screwed his eyes in concentration...something was there...but could it be?

Onestar raised his voice. "We have no cause to believe RiverClan killed Harespring." He raised his tail to stop the arguments springing up from the crowd of hissing cats. " _But_ suffice to say, as soon as we have the evidence we need, Harespring will be avenged!"

"He was killed on the RiverClan border!" Crowfeather yowled. "Who else could it be?"

"Those fish-faces can't let us have a moon of peace! I _told_ you they crossed the scent line the other day!" Breezepelt's claws made furrows in the dirt.

Crowfeather cuffed his son over the ear. "That was an apprentice, moron!"

Breezepelt turned toward his father, fur on end, spitting with fury. "You just blamed RiverClan yourself, hypocrite!"

"Do something," Kestrelflight whispered to Sedgewhisker, who stood beside him. The she-cat thrust herself in between the bickering toms.

"Be quiet and listen to what your leader says!" she hissed.

Onestar, used to Crowfeather and Breezepelt by now, felt a swell of appreciation for the she-cat. "There are other matters about Harespring's death that we must discuss."

The cats who stayed in the camp eyed each-other uneasily as Gorsetail stepped forward, a small kit swinging between her jaws. It couldn't have been more than a quarter-moon old. She placed the kit next to Harespring, where it proceeded to press itself against the dead deputy's belly, wailing.

"The kit was found with Harespring. He was curled around her when we found him. It seemed...like he was protecting her." Onestar said.

Emberfoot, a newer warrior, stepped up to the kit, poking it with a dark paw. The she-kit mewled weakly and pressed itself closer to Harespring. "She looks a little like him," he mused. "They're the same shade of brown, though only her tail-tip is white."

"You _dare_ accuse our deputy of being in a forbidden relationship?" Nightcloud hissed.

Emberfoot twitched his ear at the furious she-cat. "Well, it's not like it's a new thing. We all know about Crowfeather's kits."

Crowfeather thrust his way into the center of squabbling cats. "I am loyal!"

"Everyone!" Onestar jumped up on the Tallrock, yowling for his clanmates to be quiet. "The wind carries our voices. If an enemy has murdered Harespring, they can not hear us arguing and causing chaos amongst ourselves! Whatever secrets Harespring left have died with him. All we can do is carry on and hope justice will be served."

Heathertail padded from the nursery, blinking sleepily. "What about the kit?" she said. "She'll die without any milk. I have plenty, I could take her."

"Heathertail-" Breezepelt started but the queen slapped her tail across his mouth.

"Don't be stupid, Breezepelt. She's done nothing. Wherever she's from, no kit should feel unwanted." Heathertail padded up to where Harespring and the kit lay. The she-kit quivered in fright as Heathertail gave it a few, warming licks. "There now, shhh. It'll be okay." The queen gazed at Onestar. "I offer to take in this kit. She was with Harespring for a reason-he might've even died for her. Kin or not, I will honor that."

Onestar nodded, pride in his gaze. His daughter was growing into a formidable young cat. "Of course, Heathertail."

Whitetail came next to her daughter and helped her lick the dried blood off the kit's fur until it shone golden-brown. "She does look a lot like Harespring," she murmured. "Ears especially."

"Harespring always hated his large ears," Heathertail purred. "He was worried he'd be named Hare-ear!"

The cats of WindClan let the two she-cats through to the nursery, where Heathertail placed the young kit beside her own daughters. The kit pressed against the queen's belly and began to suckle.

Before the WindClan cats dispersed, Onestar had a final announcement. "It pains me to do this so soon, but the moon is waning. I say this before StarClan, so the spirits of Harespring may hear and approve my choice. The new deputy will be Sedgewhisker!"

Sedgewhisker bowed her head. "I am honored and I accept. Thank you. I promise to make Harespring's spirit proud."

The WindClan cats began to disperse, mewing to each other about the way the night had turned. The few cats closest to Harespring pressed their nose against the deputy, sharing tongues for the last time. Before he could join them, Onestar looked into the nursery where his daughter had settled with her kits. "She needs a name," he said. He couldn't help but think if this kit _was_ Harespring's. Her fur was a similar shade of brown and her larger-than-normal ears were almost identical to the former deputy. He _did_ remember the young Harepaw begging him before his warrior ceremony to name him anything- _anything-_ besides Hare-ear. But she was skinny-even for WindClan and long-limbed for such a little kit. He thought he knew his deputy well enough to know if _something_ was going on. Surely, he'd know if Harespring had been with a she-cat. There were obvious signs! It wasn't like he stole away during the night like Crowfeather used to-like his daughter had admitted one tearful night after the battle with ThunderClan and the cat who stole the sun. He shook his head. _StarClan help us through this. Let us figure this out, please. Harespring, wherever you are, answer our pleas._ He was suddenly wondering if _this_ was how ThunderClan felt all the time, with all their prophecies and drama.

"I've named her Flightkit," Heathertail said. "Clanborn or not, she'll have the speed of the wind in her name."

Onestar nodded and went out to join his vigil.

Kestrelflight stared at the stars, a little ways away from the vigil. Was it his imagination, or was one of the stars a deep red color? A bad feeling grew in his belly, churning it like an old, tough mouse. Voices blew on the wind, all nameless. _This is only the beginning._

 ** _AN: This is my first Warriors Fanfic! Please tell me what you think!_**


	2. Chapter 1: Three Moons Later

**An: This is the first chapter of Redemption! Please let me know how I'm doing and thanks to everyone who has read/faved/etc. so far! This is my first Warriors' Fic and I'm really excited to write it.**

 **Allegiances:**

WINDCLAN

 **Leader** :

 **Onestar** —brown tabby tom

 **Deputy** : **Sedgewhisker** —light brown tabby she-cat

 **Medicine Cat(s)** :

 **Kestrelflight** —mottled gray tom with white splotches like kestrel feathers

 **Warriors** :

 **Nightcloud** —black she-cat

 **Gorsetail** —very pale gray-and-white she-cat with blue eyes

 **Crowfeather** —dark gray tom  
 **Apprentice, Fernpaw** (dark brown she-cat)

 **Leaftail** —dark tabby tom, amber eyes

 **Emberfoot** —gray tom with two dark paws

 **Breezepelt** —black tom with amber eyes

 **Furzepelt** —gray-and-white she-cat

 **Larkwing** —pale brown tabby she-cat

 **Slightfoot** —black tom with white flash on his chest

 **Oatclaw** —pale brown tabby tom

 **Featherpelt** —gray tabby she-cat

 **Hootwhisker** —dark gray tom

 **Queens** :

 **Heathertail** —light brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes (mother to Smokekit, a gray she-kit, and Brindlekit, a mottled brown she-kit, foster mother to Flightkit, a golden brown she-kit with a white-tipped tail, long legs, large ears, and amber eyes)

 **Elders** :

 **Whitetail** —small white she-cat

Flightkit couldn't sleep. Her sisters were beside her and her mother was snoring gently. Featherpelt, who'd joined the nursery a moon ago was mewing in her sleep. Something about Hootwhisker, she heard. Flightkit heard a lot of things-she heard the warriors snoring in their dens, Onestar talking quietly to his deputy in the hollow. At times she wanted to cover her ears and burry her head in the dirt. Everything was so _loud._

Heathertail said it would make her a good hunter when she was an apprentice, but she wasn't. She was just a kit-a kit who was finding it very hard to sleep with all the noise. She knew she wasn't allowed out of the nursery at night, but the other warriors sometimes slept outside under Silverpelt. WindClan were special like that-they were the closest to their ancestors and were brave enough to sleep with them under the stars. Of course, this would make it hard to sneak out without accidentally treading on one of them. The last time Flightkit had gone out of the nursery by herself, she'd stepped on Crowfeather's tail and earned a furious hiss from him. After that she'd avoided the grumpy warrior whenever she could. No wonder Breezepelt couldn't stand him. Though, Breezepelt couldn't really stand a lot of cats. Not even his own kits, it seemed, since when they tried to play with him he always made an excuse. But he did give them presents every once in a while, so maybe he wasn't that bad.

Carefully, Flightkit picked her way across the den, trying not to step on her sisters or Featherpelt's long, gray fur. Outside, the night was chilly, but the first snows of leaf-bare were far off. She'd heard Featherpelt fretting about it to Heathertail once when they thought she and her sisters were asleep.

"I'm such a mouse-brain," Featherpelt had said. " _Kits_ and Leaf-Bare isn't far off! How could I be so stupid."

Heatherpelt had stroked the queen's back with her tail and said. "If anyone's stupid, it's Hootwhisker for pressuring you. But don't worry, kits have been born in Leaf-Bare many a time before. And we have a while yet."

Flightkit didn't know how a cat could be _pressured_ into having kits but she made it a point to find the softest piece of wool on the moor when her mother took the three of them out for a walk and give it to Featherpelt for her nest. Seeing the she-cat's expression had been worth the night of sneezing though she was sure Smokekit and Brindlekit felt differently.

She opened her mouth, scenting the night air. Besides the sleeping WindClan cats, the air tasted of rabbit and the bushy moorland grass. Before her, Onestar and Sedgewhisker had their heads bowed deep in discussion. Flightkit tasted the air again, trying to make sure she was upwind of them. Sedgewhisker had a nose like a rabbit and could smell anything.

The little kit crept forward and winced when she stepped on a twig. Onestar and Sedgewhisker whipped around, eyes on her.

"Flightkit!" Onestar said in surprise. "What are you doing?"

Flightkit couldn't bear her leader's stare and dropped her gaze to the ground. "I couldn't sleep. Heathertail snores and Featherpelt talks in her sleep."

Onestar's whiskers twitched in amusement, but his gaze stayed hard. "You know you're not supposed to leave camp without your mother or a warrior."

Flightkit pinned her ears back. "I wasn't going to _leave_ camp. Just find a quieter place." She yawned. "I'm so-so sleepy."

Sedgewhisker murrow'd with laughter. "You look like you're going to collapse any minute. Try going back to your den, Flightkit."

"Am I in trouble?" the she-kit asked.

"Not as much as you would've been if Heathertail woke up to find you gone!" Onestar exclaimed.

Tail drooping, Flightkit went back to the nursery and curled up beside her sisters. Paws over her ears, she closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

Morning light streamed into the nursery when Flightkit woke up. _It's sunhigh already!_ She thought. Smokekit and Brindlekit were nowhere to be found. _Probably playing already!_

"Good morning, Flightkit," Heathertail's voice made the young kit freeze.

"Good-good morning, Heathertail." _Does she know I tried to sneak out last night?_ The she-kit fretted, tail-tip twitching.

"You must've been tired. Onestar told me about your little escapade."

Flightkit bowed her head. "I'm sorry. Am I going to be in trouble?"

"You know the rules," Heathertail chided.

"Well, _technically_ I didn't leave camp."

Heathertail looked unamused. "That's not the point Flightkit. You could've been hurt."

"By what? A rabbit? Very scary," the she-kit said, sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"What if you wandered by the Horseplace and the dog got you-or the horses!" Heathertail retorted. "I swear, I don't know where you got this recklessness from."

Featherpelt whose tail covered her nose, mumbled. "Reckless disrespect for the code? Must've been a rogue. I swear, Harespring-"

Heathertail growled. "Do me a favor, Feathertail, close your mouth. If someone is going to scold my kit, it'll be _me._ "

Flightkit cocked her head to the side. What must've been a rogue? She knew what they were-in concept, she'd never met one of course-but the rest of it didn't make sense. And Harespring? All she knew was he was the deputy before Sedgewhisker. "What about a rogue?" she asked.

"It's nothing, Flightkit. How about you go to the elder's den and help Whitetail with her ticks? I think that's punishment enough."

Flightkit wrinkled her nose. Ticks? Yuck! But at least it was Whitetail. WindClan had only one elder and she was nice. Not grumpy like the other clans' must've been. She could only imagine what would happen if she'd been sent to take care of ThunderClan's elders! They had so many cats, half of them had to be elders. At least, that's what Breezepelt said once after a Gathering.

Sighing, she padded out into the bright sunlight. She fluffed up her thin pelt, it wasn't as warm as it'd been a few days ago and the grass was brownish now instead of green. Near the edge of the hollow, by the gorse walls, Smokekit and Brindlekit were playing moss-ball. She mewed a greeting to her sisters that had them both up and running.

"Flightkit!" Smokekit danced around her. "I heard you tried to sneak out and got into trouble! Why didn't you wake us! We could've all gone together?"

"What, and then we'd _also_ get in trouble?" Brindlekit retorted. "I don't want them delaying our ceremonies!"

Flightkit snorted. "You're such a worrywart, Brindlekit."

Brindlekit cuffed her sister over the ear gently. "Well, you don't worry _enough_."

"Brindlekit's just worried Kestrelflight won't let her be his apprentice if she gets into too much trouble!" Smokekit exclaimed.

"Well it's true! Who'd want a medicine cat who always breaks the rules?"

"A medicine cat?" Flightkit gasped. "Gross! You want to take care of sneezy cats and fuss around with herbs all day? Do you want to check Whitetail for ticks instead of me?"

Brindlekit flicked the tip of her tail. "That's _your_ punishment. When I do it, it'll be an actual job. And it's not all just herbs! There's StarClan and saving lives and being connected to your ancestors!"

"But you could never take a mate!" Smokekit argued.

"Not every cat wants a mate! Some have other ambitions."

"I'd like to be leader, one day," Flightkit mused.

Smokekit purred. "What, you? You'd need stop being so mouse-brained first! You'd be the first clan leader to declare war on the horses."

Flightkit sniffed. "Well, how hard would it be? They let _twolegs_ on their backs."

"There's like a million fox-lengths bigger than us!"

A yowl came from the nursery and Flightkit's eyes widened. "I gotta go! Whitetail's ticks won't do themselves...unless...?" she shot a hopeful glance at Brindlekit.

Brindlekit giggled. "See you later, Flightkit."

Flightkit sighed dramatically but went off to find Kestrelflight. Was Brindlekit serious? She wanted to be a _medicine cat?_ That would make them so far apart from each other! Smokekit and her would be training to be warriors and Brindlekit would be all alone. Or, well, she'd have Kestrelflight. But that wasn't the same as her having her sisters!

"Kestrelflight?" she poked her head in his den. "I need mouse bile for Whitetail's ticks."

Kestrelflight was busy sorting herbs. "Hmm, her ticks you say? Give me a moment."

Flightkit padded into the medicine den to wait, happy to get out of the chilly air for the moment. A array of herbs were laid on the floor of the medicine den. They all looked the same to her, but she could recognize the smell of borage. Heathertail used to eat it when she and her sisters needed milk more often. She sat as far away from the pile as she could as to not disturb it, waiting for the medicine cat.

Kestrelflight came back with a bit of moss hanging of a twig. "Try not to get it on your paws," he warned. "Or in your mouth. It'll taste nasty for days."

The she-kit nodded and gingerly took the twig. Bracing herself to go back into the cold, clear air, she started toward where Whitetail lay. How the old queen could lay outside and doze in the chilly air still amazed Flightkit, who much preferred the warmth of the nursery, even if it was loud, but maybe all WindClan cats were that tough once they became warriors.

Whitetail opened one eye as Flightkit approached her. "Hello, Flightkit." she meowed. "I heard about your little adventure last night. Here to do my ticks?"

The she-kit nodded.

"Well, I have a pretty big one on my shoulder. You can start with that."

Flightkit nodded again and got to work.

From across the clearing, Onestar sat with his tail wrapped around his legs. The chill in the air meant Leaf-Bare was coming soon and he wanted to make sure the cats of his clan were well fed and protected when the time came. Kestrelflight was already going to collect herbs, especially precious catmint, every day until he had a sufficient stock, and the warriors were hunting to make sure they had some prey in a cache before the snows scared the rabbits to ground. He watched Heathertail's two kits play moss-ball. Smokekit was a natural pouncer while Brindlekit carefully thought out every move before she struck. Flightkit was helping Whitetail with her ticks-a small punishment for trying to leave camp. He sighed, there was something so restless about the she-kit. Every time Heathertail brought them out of the nursery and showed them different spots on the moor the young kit would race out ahead of them, then dart back, until they had caught up to her. This wasn't the first time she'd come outside at night and looked at the stars, though she thankfully tried to sneak out of camp less. Once he'd found her curled up right on the spot where Harespring was buried.

The deputy's death had been three moons ago, yet Kestrelflight couldn't locate the tom in StarClan. Onestar refused to believe he was in the Dark Forest-his deputy was loyal until the end. But then again, where else could he have been? It gnawed at his insides the way hunger would. His cats wanted whoever killed Harespring to pay. They wanted answers to why he'd been found curled around Flightkit. They were getting restless too and Onestar had no way of giving them what they wanted. He'd dreamed at the moonpool twice and there'd been nothing. Kestrelflight looked himself, but he'd found nothing too. Something was wrong and Onestar felt it in his gut. He just wished he knew what it was.

The medicine cat padded up to him. "You look worried."

"I'm just remember what you told me when we found Flightkit?"

"The star?" Kestrelflight asked. "I wish I could be more helpful. StarClan has been silent. It's almost as if even they don't know where Harespring is." He looked up to the sky. Even during sunhigh the bloody star was dark in the sky. "I wish I knew what it meant."

"It's not your fault," Onestar said. "No one expects you to know everything. If StarClan has been silent, it's not anything you can change."

"I have a bad feeling, though." Kestrelflight said. "That star, it means something bad will happen. It's not a coincidence that it appeared on the night of Harespring's murder. I fear for what it could mean for us, for Flightkit."

"She still doesn't know she's not Heathertail and Breezepelt's kit."

"Heathertail told me that Featherpelt had made a comment about it. Saying her mother must've been a rogue."

"In Flightkit's earshot?"

"Where _isn't_ Flightkit's earshot," Kestrelflight deadpanned. The little kit had incredible hearing. He supposed it was the large ears. "But yes. She didn't seem to notice any of it though."

"We'll need to tell her soon. The Clan knows and when she goes to her first Gathering, it'll be obvious. When I announced Heathertail's kits, I mentioned only two. Flightkit can't be the last to know. We've seen how that plays out."

Kestrelflight was brought back to the disastrous death of Ashfur and the reveal a broken Hollyleaf spoke of at a Gathering long ago. It shocked the Clans to the core when they found out who Squirrelflight's kits really were, but he suspected their reactions were nothing compared to the black she-cat's. "We are not ThunderClan." he said.

"She needs to know." Onestar said, this time with more force behind his voice.

"I know. I just wish we had more answers."

Onestar sighed. "We'll get them soon. I have to believe that. Have faith in StarClan." Kestrelflight nodded, Onestar's words reaching him. Onestar wished he could have as much faith in their ancestors as his medicine cat did. So many cats died in the Great Battle and then again in the flood. Even now, with the prophecy of shadows, WindClan seemed to be the least involved when it concerned StarClan. Were their ancestors even watching over them still? If they were, why couldn't they find Harespring? His patience was wearing thin.

Alone on a cold moor, a white and brown tomcat struggled through the snow. "Hello?" he called. "Is anyone there?" He'd been on the moor forever or at least it felt like it. Where was his ancestors, where was StarClan? All there was was the cold, grey moor with brown stalks blowing in the wind. "Hello?" he called again. "Anyone?"

But his voice was lost in the wind.


	3. Chapter 2: By the Border

**Hi Everyone! I'm back with another chapter! Sorry it took so long! Please tell me what you think!**

The three moons before Heathertail's kits were apprenticed went by faster than Onestar could believe. It was if one moment he was seeing them suckle with their mother, venturing out of their warm nursery with tentative mews and in the next the three of them were romping in the light dusting of snow that covered the hollow. He sighed as Flightkit sprang up and bowled over her sisters, though it was two-on-one, Flightkit's muscular back legs were giving her the advantage-until she reared up with too much speed and toppled over on her back, yowling.

Heathertail raced from her spot beside the nursery, furiously licking her kit.

"I'm alright, I'm alright." Flightkit shook the worried queen off. "Stupid rock. I couldn't see it under the snow."

"Too bad you can't hear rocks," Brindlekit commented.

" _Hear rocks_?" Flightkit's ear twitched and she ran a paw over it self-consciously. Onestar winced; he'd seen Harespring do the same thing many a time. He still had yet to tell Flightkit her origins. They would be apprentices today; he couldn't afford to wait. Yet something held him back, like the ghost of a cat was blocking his way, stepping on his throat whenever he managed to be alone with the young kit.

And Kestrelflight still had no signs from StarClan. The young medicine cat wasn't as spirited as usual. His fur was dull and ungroomed, his eyes went straight to the ground, his tail made a line in the snow. Onestar worried, but there was nothing he could do if Kestrelflight did not want to tell him.

With a sigh, he sprang up to the HighRock, shuffling a bit before he managed to gain hold on the snow-covered boulder. Stunned, he whipped his head around but no one had seen him stumble. _I'm getting old._ He thought. _I was a warrior when Firestar was just a 'paw._ Onestar shook himself. Mistystar was still going strong and she was older than him. So what if he only had four lives left? He couldn't possibly lose them all in one go to old age, could he? The only time he remembered that happened was the first death of Tigerstar, long ago.

"Let all cats old enough to run with the wind gather around the HighRock to hear my words!" he yowled with no trace of doubt.

Flightkit perked up from where she was tumbling with her sisters in the light snowfall. She'd never seen snow before and even though Kestrelflight said it could be dangerous, all she found was fun. She loved to spring up high and then land in a big pile, spraying snow at anyone in the area. Maybe that could be a battle move! But Onestar was calling now-they were going to be apprenticed!

Heathertail looked at her dirty kits with widened eyes and quickly started to groom their fur. "You can't go out looking like a mess, can you?" She said as Brindlekit tried to pull away.

" _Heathertail_ ," the mottled brown kit complained.

"Listen to your mother," Breezepelt started grooming Smokekit with quick, brisk strokes of his tongue. "All three of you should look your best. I see you slinking off, Flightkit!"

Flightkit stopped in her tracks. She thought she'd been rather stealthy but Breezepelt seemed to have eyes on the back of his head. She groaned as he finished with Smokekit and made a quick job of her. She knew better than to pull away. Her mother once told her of how their father was treated as a kit and how it took him having his own kits to heal inside. Flightkit might've been annoyed but she wanted Breezepelt to be happy. She saw how Crowfeather treated him-them-even now. She was convinced her grandfather did not like her, nor did her grandmother. Why, she did not know.

"Okay, okay, I'm done! We're going to miss Fernpaw's ceremony!" Flightkit twisted away from Breezepelt and dashed off into the clearing along with her sisters.

Breezepelt made a face. "Kits. Always in a hurry."

Heathertail twined her tail with his. "We were like that too, once."

"A long time ago," he replied. "How are Featherpelt's kits doing?"

Heathertail looked back into the nursery, worry in her gaze. She'd seen the queen grow thin and depressed despite four healthy kits. She supposed it was like that; Featherpelt had confided in her how she wanted to wait a bit longer, but gave into Hootwhisker's pressure one night. The tomcat was ready for a family, but it was Featherpelt who was bearing the brunt of the work. "Rabbitkit, Morningkit, Redkit, and Duskkit are fine, I'm more worried about Featherpelt."

Breezepelt nodded. "Well, we have a ceremony to watch."

"Yes we do."

Meanwhile, Flightkit and her sisters crowded around near the edge of the circle, waiting on paw's ends for Fernpaw's ceremony and their own to begin. Brindlekit stared at Kestrelflight with hopeful eyes while Smokekit quivered in excitement. Flightkit did what she did best-listen.

"Today I am able to do not one but two of my favorite ceremonies for the Clan." Onestar said. "Fernpaw, please step forward."

The gray she-cat stepped forward, looking like a shadow next to her dark furred mentor.

"Crowfeather, do you believe Fernpaw is ready to become a warrior?"

"Yes, Onestar." Crowfeather nodded. "She has trained well."

"Fernpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and pledge loyalty to your clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Fernpaw nodded solemnly. "I do."

"Then by the powers vested in me by StarClan, Fernpaw, you shall be known as Fernshadow. The Clan honors your compassion and your dedication and welcomes you as a full member of WindClan."

"Fernshadow! Fernshadow! Fernshadow!"

Flightkit watched as Fernshadow stepped forward and licked her leader's shoulder. _One day, that'll be me._ She wasn't sure if she was referring to the newly-made warrior or the older leader, she just knew one day, that would be her. It had to be.

Onestar leapt back up onto the HighRock. "And now, Heathertail's kits have come of age. The three of them have learned the ways of WindClan from the wisdom of our queens and elders and now will step forward to take their own place."

Murmurs broke out into the crowd but before Flightkit could get a sense of what they were saying, Onestar called for silence.

Kestrelflight stood up from where he sat beside the HighRock and came to the front of the circle. "As you all know, I won't be around forever. Luckily I found a wonderful cat to take my place when I'm old and gray. Brindlekit will be your next medicine cat!"

Smokekit and Flightkit shoved their sister good-naturedly. "See," Smokekit whispered, "I _told_ you not to worry."

"Brindlekit, step forward." Onestar said and waited as the small brown she-kit stepped into the center of the circle. there was a slight tremble in her legs. Onestar recalled his own apprentice ceremony and the nerves that went with it. He imaged it must've been double for a medicine cat apprentice. "Are you ready to enter the mysteries of StarClan and take your place as a medicine cat?"

"I am." For all her shaking, Brindlekit's voice was clear and strong.

"Then at the next half moon you shall go to the Moonpool to be accepted by StarClan. Kestrelflight, Barkface taught you well. Teach everything you know to young Brindlepaw."

The two cats went to touch noses and then returned to where Kestrelflight had stood.

"Smokekit, step forward." Flightkit's ear twitched in agitation. She was going to be last! What if she got a bad mentor? There weren't as many warriors in the Clan anymore, not after the Great Battle. "Sedgewhisker, you were mentored well by Whitetail. Pass on what you know to Smokepaw."

Flightkit couldn't believe her ears-now she was _really_ jealous of Smokepaw. She got the _deputy_ as her mentor. Still, she watched as the two cats touched noses and felt pride for her sister hiding amongst the jealousy. _I don't need to train with the deputy to be the best warrior. I can do it with any cat._

"Flightkit, please step forward." _Finally!_ Flightkit sprang forward in a mighty pounce, spraying the snowdrift on a few cats too near to get away in time. A few shocked mrrows came from the crowd and Breezepelt's careful grooming came undone, but Flightkit didn't notice.

Onestar sighed. Her mentor would have a pawful with her. He just hoped he chose correctly. "Emberfoot, you were a wonderful mentor to Sunstrike, who now rests in StarClan. I hope you can teach Flightpaw just as well."

Emberfoot bowed his head. "I will do everything in my power to make her a warrior WindClan can be proud of."

Flightpaw heard a sharp hiss come from Nightcloud but she didn't pay it any mind. Nightcloud always acted like someone put crowfood in her freshkill. She bounded up to her new mentor and touched noses.

Fur standing on end with excitement, Flightpaw bounced around her new mentor. "What are we going to do first? Hunt? Fight? Gather moss?" she rather hoped it was the first two. As much as she loved Whitetail, she'd spent quite a bit of her kithood cleaning out her den.

"We're going to travel the territory," Emberfoot said. "Sedgewhisker and Smokepaw will come with us. That way we can have a patrol."

Breezepelt stepped forward. "I'd like to join, if that's okay."

Emberfoot purred. "Not ready to let your daughters leave the nursery just yet, Breezepelt?"

Flightpaw groaned but Breezepelt had that determined set in his amber eyes that made her believe that he would not take no for an answer. So without any other words, the five of them set off at a slow trot.

Despite her longer-than-average legs, Flightpaw found it hard to keep up with the warriors as they went at a brisk pace through the snow. Outside the camp the snow was almost up to her belly; behind her Smokepaw was leaping over and over just to keep her head above. "Is it always going to be this cold?" she shivered.

"No," Sedgewhisker purred. "In Leaf-Bare it gets this cold but once Green-Leaf comes you'll completely forget that it was ever anything but warm. You kits are lucky, apprenticed in late leaf-bare. You'll have all of new-leaf and green-leaf to hone your skills."

The group of them stopped as the ground became less solid under their feet. From close before them, Flightpaw thought she heard the sound of thunder, only to see a horse racing across the field with a twoleg on it's back. It didn't look like it was having much fun, but it wasn't knocking the twoleg off like a smart cat would do. WindClan could definitely take them on in a fight. Probably.

"This is the Horseplace," Emberfoot said. "The marshes beyond are the border with RiverClan. They use the marshes to hunt."

"For what?" Smokepaw asked, wrinkling her nose. "I can't smell any rabbits."

"All I smell is RiverClan," Flightpaw shook her head as she tried to get rid of the nasty scent in her nostrils. It was thick and fishy, pungent enough that she could almost taste it herself."

"Frogs, toads, the small fish that live in the marshes." Sedgewhisker responded. "Their main prey is fish, but they will also eat land prey if they need to."

"They can keep the frogs," Flightpaw cringed. How awful would it be to eat frogs and fish? She much preferred the warm taste of rabbit.

Emberfoot flicked his tail. "Just so, come. We've still got a long way to go."

All went fine for a while. The new apprentices traveled through the territory and even watched as Breezepelt quickly caught a rabbit with Sedgewhisker. Flightpaw had never seen teamwork used to catch prey before, but her mentor promised they would learn soon enough. She was proud of her father-he was so fast! Almost as fast as her! Both of them had the wind in their names.

But as the group approached the ThunderClan border, they slowed and Flightpaw smelled a new scent. Not just the muskiness of the ThunderClan scent markers or the sharp sweetness of the stream, but something unrecognizable that came off as hostile.

"This is the Moonpool stream," Emberfoot said, "We share the border here with ThunderClan."

"This is where Brindlepaw will go next half-moon, right?" Smokepaw asked.

"Very good, Smokepaw!" Sedgewhisker praised. "Yes, they'll go up the stream until they reach the Moonpool."

"Will ThunderClan let them?" Flightpaw asked.

"Medicine cats follow different rules than ours," Breezepelt said. His eyes seemed far, far away. "Your sister chose a harder path, but she also gains much from it."

Smokepaw and Flightpaw purred at the thought of their sister, a mighty medicine cat saving the lives of their Clanmates. Perhaps one day, Flightpaw would be leader, Smokepaw would be deputy, and Brindlepaw would be the medicine cat. The thought struck Flightpaw and she purred harder. Yes, they would be an unbeatable team of sisters.

She didn't notice Breezepelt and Emberfoot's hackles raise or the small growl coming from Sedgewhisker's throat. But by then it was too late to do anything and the two apprentices stood in stunned silence as a ThunderClan patrol came by.

Flightpaw's eyes widened. These cats were huge and _fat_. Or at least, they looked that way compared to Sedgewhisker, Breezepelt, and Emberfoot's skinny, muscular bodies. Smokepaw shook beside her and she pressed her pelt against her sister's as the big, golden cat up front came to a stop. Behind him trailed three others; a cream colored tom who strangely only had a stump of a tail, an older white-furred she-cat, and a black tom that looked to be a few moons older than them.

"Breezepelt," the golden tom meowed. Something about him set Flightpaw's fur on end. She ran a paw over her ear, thinking as her father responded to the golden tom, the same muted hostility in his tone.

"Lionblaze."

"What are your cats doing so close to the border?" the cream colored tom cut in.

Sedgewhisker betrayed no aggression or fear in her voice. "Calm down, Berrynose. We're only showing new apprentices the border."

"New apprentices, really?" Lionblaze peered at Flightpaw and Smokepaw. Smokepaw reeled back to avoid the tom's amber gaze but Flightpaw, emboldened by something she couldn't name stared right back. "I didn't think Featherpelt's kits were ready yet."

Breezepelt growled. "They're my kits, mouse-brain. Mine and Heathertail's."

Lionblaze cocked his head to the side, like he couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. Flightpaw flicked her tail in annoyance. Could they just _go_ already? No one was crossing any border, they all made that clear. What was the big deal?

"Lionblaze looks like he wants to shred Breezepelt," Smokepaw whispered in her ear.

"Breezepelt would shred Lionblaze first," Flightpaw said. "If it comes to a fight we have the numbers."

"But we don't know how to fight!" Smokepaw hissed.

"I'll protect you," Flightpaw curled her tail around her sister's shoulders. Inwardly, she hoped a fight didn't start. Though anyone who looked at her father like that deserved a good shredding, she didn't know any fighting moves and wasn't sure how she could protect her sister other than grabbing her by the scruff and hauling her away as fast as she could. Still, she pressed herself beside Smokepaw. _It's not 'cause I'm afraid. It's for her._ But she couldn't help her eyes from wandering down to the golden tom's unsheathed claws.

"Congratulations," Lionblaze said, not sounding very congratulatory at all. "I didn't know you had kits."

"You must've missed the Gathering where they were mentioned," Breezepelt replied curtly. "Now, we have a lot of territory to cover and little sunlight left. If you'll excuse us, we'll be on our way."

Smokepaw and Flightpaw scurried to follow their father but suddenly the black apprentice bounded forward and splashed across the river, standing nose-to-nose with Flightpaw. "I know who you are!" He crowed. "you're the rogue kit that they found on the RiverClan border! I remember Shadepaw mentioning it last Gathering! She saw it from the reeds!"

"Larkpaw!" the white she-cat hissed, "Get back to our side of the border! _Now!"_

 _"_ But Whitewing, she's a rogue! We can chase rogues!"

Flightpaw stared at the black apprentice, trying to figure out what in StarClan he was talking about. A rogue? Something Featherpelt whispered back in the nursery a long time ago flashed back into her mind along with the memories of stares and whispers for the first few moons of her life. But she couldn't-she couldn't be a _rogue_ , could she? She was Flightpaw. Daughter of Breezepelt and Heathertail. A pure, proud WindClan cat.

"I thought WindClan was obsessed with keeping bloodlines pure," Lionblaze murmured.

"Because you would know all about pure bloodlines, hmm?" Breezepelt hissed, stepping in front of Flightpaw. She shivered from underneath his belly. "Leave my kit alone and get your apprentice back to the other side of the border or I'll shred his ears."

The cream warrior-Berrynose-snorted. "Make sure _she_ stays on her side of the border or we'll shred _her_ ears!"

"Because you would know all about borders," Flightpaw muttered. "Which border did _you_ cross to end up with a stump for a tail?"

"Flightpaw!" Emberfoot hissed.

Berrynose's stumpy tail waggled. "You watch it, kit." He bounded off into the underbrush, Larkpaw and Whitewing following behind him.

Lionblaze stayed however and stared at Breezepelt and the apprentice hiding under his belly. "Next time this happens, I'll tell Bramblestar."

"Tell him what?" Smokepaw surged forward, coming to her sister's rescue. "That your warrior was insulted by a new apprentice and threatened her before running away? I'm sure he'll be _very_ _impressed."_

 _"Smokepaw_!" Sedgewhisker mewed in shock.

Lionblaze huffed. "Maybe they are your daughters after all." Flightpaw watched the golden warrior run off into the underbrush. It was only then did she realize she was shaking.

Breezepelt gave both his kits a few licks. "It's alright. ThunderClan is just full of themselves."

"You shouldn't have insulted them like that," Sedgewhisker scolded. "Flightpaw, Smokepaw, what were you thinking?"

"ThunderClan have been insulting us for a long time," Emberfoot said. "Maybe it's time they got a taste of their own dirt."

"And that exactly is why I'm deputy, not you," Sedgewhisker said. "Come on, let's go before the sun is down." She nudged Smokepaw and waved her tail at Emberfoot. Flightpaw began to slink out from under Breezepelt's belly when Sedgewhisker stopped her. "Flightpaw, I think it's best if you talk to Breezepelt for a bit."

Anxiety churned like rotten fresh-kill in Flightpaw's stomach. Was she going to be in trouble for what she said to Berrynose? Or was it worse-did she somehow not belong in this Clan at all? She wasn't a _rogue._ She refused to believe it. Her earliest memory was suckling right alongside Smokepaw and Brindlepaw, getting badger rides from her father, having her mother fuss over her.

The two cats were quiet for a long time. "Am I in trouble?" Flightpaw finally asked.

Breezepelt shook his head. "No, you aren't."

"Then what's wrong?"

Breezepelt stood, shaking the snow from his fur. "Let's walk and talk. That way we don't freeze to death."

Flightpaw realized she could barely feel her own paws and she followed Breezepelt silently.

"Flightpaw," Breezepelt began, "Before I say anything I want you to know that Heathertail and I love you very much and we consider you as much of our daughter as Smokepaw and Brindlepaw."

The dreaded feeling was growing worse. "But I'm not, am I?"

Breezepelt shook his head and sighed. "It's time you learned about Harespring."

Brindlepaw trotted after Kestrelflight. The sun had gone down rather quickly and the half-moon was rising in the sky. Over the past few days she sensed a difference in her sister. She'd moved her nest to the far side of the apprentice's den, away from her and Smokepaw, and she didn't seem to respond to anyone, not even her mentor. Even their parents couldn't get her to come out of the den. Onestar and Kestrelflight visited on one occasion and Brindlepaw worried for until moonhigh that Flightpaw was sick with something terrible. But when she asked, all she got was silence.

But Brindlepaw felt her sister's pain like it was her own-it was a deep, aching feeling in her chest. Like she was standing on top of a rabbit hole right before it collapsed and buried her alive. "Are you sure Flightpaw's alright?" she asked for what must've been the hundredth time.

"She'll be fine in time." Kestrelflight said.

"What's wrong with her?"

"Nothing is wrong with her."

Brindlepaw's fur stood up. Usually Kestrelflight was friendly and helpful, but lately he'd been snapping at everything she said. Part of the reason she wanted to be a medicine cat was because Kestrelflight had to be the nicest, most knowledgable cat in the entire clan. Now...she wasn't so sure.

"Don't talk about it at the Moonpool," he warned as they descended down the spiral stones. They were the last ones to come, with Mothwing and Willowshine, Alderpaw and Jayfeather, and Leafpool and Puddlepaw with them. Brindlepaw recognized the fishy and musky scents of RiverClan and ThunderClan, but Leafpool's scent was muddled with pine. Kestrelflight bent down and whispered. "Littlecloud was ShadowClan's medicine cat, along with Flametail, but both of them died before they could get a new apprentice so Leafpool offered to train one. ThunderClan didn't need three medicine cats."

Brindlepaw looked at the brown-and-white she-cat and the gray tabby tom chatting beside her. "This is my new apprentice," Kestrelflight said. "Brindlepaw."

The gray tomcat turned and Brindlepaw stiffled a gasp when she saw his cloudy eyes. "Is she Breezepelt's kit, Kestrelflight? Lionblaze was going on and on about it last night. You would've thought someone put live bees in his fresh kill. Berrynose was going on about indignant kits for ages."

"Yes," Kestrelflight said. "But the one who insulted Berrynose was Flightpaw, not Brindlepaw, Jayfeather."

Jayfeather snorted. "Well, as much as I hate to say it, Berrynose needs to be knocked down a few branches."

Leafpool cleared her throat. "Shall we dream?"

The small ceremony for Brindlepaw whizzed past her in a blur and she finally stepped to the banks of the Moonpool. The spirits of StarClan whispered at her paws and the pelts of many cats brushed past her. She lapped at the water and waited as a deep sleep took over.

No one noticed Jayfeather drinking last, his sightless eyes locked on Brindlepaw.

( **AN: Hey so I hope you liked the chapter! Part of Redemption is to show different sides of the characters we have seen, so Onestar and Breezepelt along with other characters are shown in different lights. However, they still aren't without their flaws as we'll see in the next chapter. I thought it would be interesting for ThunderClan to be the aggressors for once.**

 **Question(s) of the Day: Who is your favorite character so far? Which of Heathertail's three kits (Smokepaw, Brindlepaw, and Flightpaw) do you like best? Who do you think Flightpaw's parents are?**


	4. Chapter 3: Family

Brindlepaw opened her eyes onto a snowy field, the wind whipping around her. She looked around, eyes wide in terror. This couldn't be StarClan, could it? Kestrelflight said StarClan was warm, like there was green-leaf year-round, that her ancestors would come and speak to her. Was she being rejected? No. She refused to believe it.

She started forward in the strong wind, calling out to anyone who might be there. "Hello?" Her yowl was drowned out in the sea of white and cold. "Is anyone there?"

A yowl went up from a few yards away and Brindlepaw bounded forward to see her mentor, Kestrelflight, covered in snow and shaking from the cold. "Brindlepaw!" he cried in relief. "I was worried for a moment."

"What is this place, Kestrelflight?" Brindlepaw whimpered, pressing herself against her mentor. "Isn't StarClan supposed to be warm?"

Kestrelflight gave his apprentice a comforting lick. "I don't know what it is. All I know is that for six moons this is been where I've dreamed to instead of StarClan."

 _Six whole moons?_ Brindlepaw started. That was around when she and her sisters were born. But they had nothing to do with that, right. There was no way three little kits could do anything like block off a connection to StarClan-especially if one was going to be a medicine cat.

"What about the other Clans," she asked. "Are they able to get into StarClan?"

"From what I can gather, we're the only Clan shut out." Kestrelflight hung his head. "I fear they're angry at us for something."

"But we didn't do anything!" Brindlepaw argued. "We're a good, loyal clan!"

"Many of our Clan died during the Great Battle. Some even fought for the Dark Forest. Perhaps this is the way StarClan has punished us...and the last sign I got was when we found Flightpaw..."

Brindlepaw bristled. Was he _blaming_ Flightpaw? Sure, she might've not been kin, but she was still her sister. "Flightpaw's my sister," she hissed. "She's got nothing to do with this! She's already feeling bad enough without you thinking she's some harbinger of doom!"

Kestrelflight ran his tail down his apprentice's back. "I didn't mean it that way. It's good you're so close with your siblings."

Brindlepaw squinted and tried to see if she could make out anything in the snow. She thought that she heard a cat crying out from far off, but it might've just be the sound of the wind. She wished she had Flightpaw's ears-they might've looked stupid but at least she heard well. "I wonder if someone is out there," she murmured. "We can't be the only ones."

"I hope you're right," Kestrelflight said. "I hope you're right."

XXX

Flightpaw lay in the apprentice's den, curled in her dirty nest. It had been clean when she'd first made it, with bits of sheep wool and flowers from the moor tucked in, but she'd refused to leave after she found out the truth, barely eating or making dirt, and just curled up with her nose tucked underneath her tail. When others came to visit, she pretended she was asleep, but she didn't sleep much anymore.

It was a quarter moon since learning the truth and all she could feel was shame prickling her pawpads like thorns and burning her ears like stinging nettle. She was so stupid. How could she possibly have thought she was Breezepelt and Heathertail's kit? She looked nothing like them. How could she not have heard the cats who whispered underneath their breath about her, gave her odd glances sometimes. Sure, not many spoke against her or negatively of her for her birth-saving who she thought were her grandparents and Featherpelt of course-but she now knew the odd looks in their eyes were due to her mixed blood. Were they wondering if she was even a WindClan cat to begin with? Onestar said it was most likely Harespring was her father, since she had his looks, but she didn't think she could be that lucky. She was probably some rogue kitten he felt he needed to defend. Even if he was her father, she was Half-Clan at best.

Ever since she was a kit, she wanted to be the best warrior ever. Be a deputy, even a leader someday. But how could she if she wan't even full WindClan? She didn't deserve the nest she laid on much less a leader's nine lives.

Something scuffled at the entrance to the den and Flightpaw's ears perked up. A pair of amber eyes stared back at her in a dark face. "Flightpaw," Breezepelt called. "Can you come out? I want to talk to you."

She turned away. "Why do you even care? I'm not your kit, not really."

There was silence for a moment and Flightpaw sighed in relief that he'd gone away, before squealing as teeth bit down on her scruff and she was unceremoniously carried from the den like a kit. Once outside, she winced at the harsh light that shone off the snow as Breezepelt set her down.

"You are my kit," he said. "I already told you-Heathertail and I consider you as much our kit as Smokepaw and Brindlepaw."

"But I'm not," Flightpaw bowed her head. "My parents were probably rogues. At least _one_ was. Why would anyone want a cat with mixed blood in their clan?"

Breezepelt was silent for a moment, before speaking. "Come, walk with me. You need to get some exercise and warm up your muscles. We'll see if we can do some hunting too."

Flightpaw followed Breezepelt out of the camp, tail dragging on the ground. She was a terrible apprentice, wasn't she? She'd been apprenticed for a quarter moon and she spent it sulking in her den. Maybe she would never learn to do anything a warrior could do and be kicked out of the Clan. Maybe she didn't have the selflessness it took to be a warrior. A true Clan cat would've have sulked for a quarter moon and neglected their training.

Still, she followed the black tom out of the shelter of the hollow and into the open moors. The snow had gone down a little and it was warmer than she remembered it being when she'd first went out. But newleaf's thaw was probably another moon away. She fluffed up her pelt against the chill and Breezepelt put his tail around her shoulders.

They stopped on a rock that jutted out from a hill. On it she felt like she could see forever-the Horseplace, RiverClan's border, ThunderClan, the lake and the Gathering Island. She spotted Smokepaw doing battle training and Brindlepaw with her mentor, looking for herbs. She saw the wind as it blew and shaped the moorland and the cold sun that shone in the sky.

Breezepelt sat and guided her next to him. "What do you think?" he asked.

"You can see the whole world from here," she mewed, momentarily forgetting about the news that changed her life.

"The world is much bigger," Breezepelt assured her. "Once, my father and I went through the mountains with Tawnypelt, Bramblestar, Squirrelflight, Lionblaze, Jayfeather, and Hollyleaf."

"Why would you go anywhere with them?"

"When we traveled from the old forest it was Tawnypelt, Crowfeather, Bramblestar, Squirrelflight, and two more cats-Stormfur and Feathertail-that first made the journey. They met a group of cats living in the mountains that called themselves the Tribe of Rushing Water. Later, when I was an apprentice, some of them came asking for our help. So we all went back, other than Feathertail, who died during the first journey."

She nodded, she'd heard a bit about Feathertail from Crowfeather, who had immediately been cuffed over the ear by Nightcloud when he mentioned her name.

"So you traveled with Lionblaze when he was a 'paw?" she asked.

He nodded. "And his brother and sister-you wouldn't remember Hollyleaf, she died in the Battle." He sighed. "Nightcloud and Crowfeather are my parents, both pure WindClan blood. But Crowfeather was also the father of Lionblaze and his siblings. Their mother was Leafpool, the medicine cat."

Flightpaw's ears perked up. "Really?"

Breezepelt nodded. "Blood doesn't mean everything, Flightpaw. My parents were full WindClan but they hated each other, hated me, and for a long time I was angry and bitter. When the truth came out about Crowfeather's other kits, I hated them. I thought they should've have existed. I did...I did some bad things. It was only later that I realized I was jealous of them-they grew up with a loving family and I didn't. And even after the secret came out, their clan supported them. I'm not a fool. I know Crowfeather never wanted me and I know Nightcloud only saw me as a tool to get back at Crowfeather for not loving her. For the longest time I let the negative feelings fester inside of me and I paid for them. But Heathertail changed that."

"How?"

Breezepelt purred. "Family isn't just kin, they are the people who care about you, who love you, who would risk everything for you. Who would forgive you if you did something terrible." The black tom's eyes grew faraway for a moment before he started again. "When I realized that, I left my old family behind. Heathertail, Smokepaw, Brindlepaw, Whitetail, Emberfoot, Sedgewhisker, _you_ are my family. You are the ones I would do anything for. When I saw the three of you by Heathertail's belly I knew that I go to the ends of the world to protect you and raise you to be proud of yourselves no matter what."

Flightpaw cocked her head to one side. "But aren't Crowfeather and Nightcloud important."

"Nightcloud will always be the cat that carried, birthed, and nursed me. Crowfeather will always be the tom that fathered me. But they're not my family, not in the way you are." He licked Flightpaw's head and around her ears. "You all are my family and I'd be a fool if I didn't see that. I was a fool for a very long time. Don't be like me, Flightpaw. You're so much better than that."

Flightpaw nodded, thoughts churning in her head. Breezepelt made sense and she appreciated hearing a side of him she was sure not many other's had. "What did you do that was so bad?" she asked.

"Another time, perhaps, I'll tell you." he said. "Now, let's see if we can catch some prey."

XXX

It was the first time Flightpaw had been hunting, Breezepelt showing her the crouches instead of Emberfoot, but she managed to catch a mouse and a vole near the forest part of their territory. Both were small, tough, and stringy, but they were fresh-kill. Breezepelt faired better with a hare and rabbit each. When they went to deposit their prey into the fresh-kill pile, Smokepaw raced up to her, still panting from battle training. Emberfoot followed close behind. "Isn't she supposed to be my apprentice?" he asked, whiskers twitching with humor.

"Well, I decided an intervention was needed," Breezepelt said. "Besides, last time you tried to catch anything that wasn't a rabbit, you ran headfirst into a boulder."

"Did _not_ ," Emberfoot said. "I merely _tripped_. It's hard to see in that forest-y area."

Breezepelt purred. "Mhhm. Suuuure."

Smokepaw danced around her sister. "You look better," she said.

Flightpaw pressed her nose to her sister's pelt. "I feel better."

Smokepaw purred. "You know it doesn't matter who your kin is, we're your sisters and we'll always be together."

Flightpaw nodded. "I know. I was hare-brained to think otherwise."

"Well, you're always a bit hare-brained," Smokepaw shoved her sister good naturedly. "That's why it's me and Brindlepaw's job to keep you safe. So you don't declare war on the horses."

"Come _on_ ," Flightpaw said, "How hard could it _be_. They let two-legs on their back for StarClan's sake."

Smokepaw's reply was drowned out by Featherpelt's wail. "Redkit and Morningkit are missing!" she cried.


	5. Chapter 4: Rescue

Smokepaw's words were drowned out by Featherpelt's yowl. Redkit and Morningkit? They were barely two moons old! How'd they disappear? Could someone have stolen them? She unsheathed her claws and dug them into the ground. It was leaf-bare, surely they'd notice someone sneaking in camp. It was leaf-bare! The kits would die if they were out there for too long.

She took a deep breath. _Remember what Sedgewhisker taught you. Be calm, cool, and collected. Don't jump to conclusions. Sometimes the most obvious answer is the right one. "_ Did you check the dirt place?" she asked.

Featherpelt whipped her head around, hissing at the apprentice. "Of course I did! I'm not mouse-brained!"

"Hey, she was only trying to help!" Flightpaw started, but Smokepaw laid her tail on her sister's shoulders. Flightpaw huffed, but became quiet.

Onestar padded up to the queen. "Is there anywhere you think they might've gone?"

"No! I don't know!" She bowed her head, wailing. "I'm a terrible mother. They must've heard me say I wasn't ready for it, they must've felt unwanted, I-I-I'm horrible."

The newest warrior pushed her way through the crowd, running her tail along the distraught queen's back. "You are not a terrible mother," Fernshadow said. "You're a cat just like all of us and you make mistakes. The kits know you love them." She continued to speak to the queen softly, leading her back into the nursery where her two remaining kits were just waking.

Smokepaw watched them, worried. It must've felt awful for a queen to not know where her kits were. If she had kits, she'd be as distraught as Featherpelt, if not more. _I wonder if Flightpaw's birth mother ever wonders about her?_ She shook herself. As far as she was concerned, Flightpaw was her sister and Heathertail was their mother no matter what blood ran in her veins. She was just happy her sister was returning to herself.

"Let all cats old enough to race the wind join me by the HighRock for a call meeting!" Onestar yowled, most of the cats in the camp were already in the clearing, but they gathered around closer to hear their leader speak. Smokepaw was shivering, those poor kits, who knew what was going on! Flightpaw pressed against her.

"It'll be okay. We'll find them." She left no room for doubt.

"I want us to have two search parties," Onestar called. "As we all know very well, we have the least warriors in the Clans right now. I want to make sure the camp is still protected. Each party will take a medicine cat in case they need to help the kits or cross into another territory. Flightpaw, Emberfoot, Brindlepaw, Breezepelt, and Hootwhisker will go look by the ThunderClan border and the areas around. Kestrelflight, Heathertail, Smokepaw, Oatclaw, and Nightcloud will go to the area by RiverClan. Slightfoot, Crowfeather, Sedgewhisker, Fernshadow, Leaftail, and Gorsefur will stay here. Understood?"

Brindlepaw's eyes widened. "But-But I've only been an apprentice for a few quarter moons! I can't possibly be any help!"

Kestrelflight flicked his apprentice's ear with his tail. "You're already brilliant with herbs. I have faith in you."

"Alright?" Onestar called, "Let's go!"

Smokepaw mewed a goodbye to her sister and went to find Nightcloud, Heathertail, Oatclaw and Kestrelflight. She skirted around the dark brown tom. She'd never really talked to Oatclaw. He'd always seemed gruff and surly. Now he was kneading the ground with his paws. "We have to find them," he said.

Smokepaw tried to sound as confident as Flightpaw had. "We will find them."

The group bounded off to the territory by RiverClan. The snow was falling again, covering the moor in a cold, wet layer. Every so often Smokepaw shook clumps of snow off her pelt, each time becoming more and more worried. The kits still had kit-fluff. What if they got Greencough-or worse? Was there something worse than greencough?

Oatclaw rested his tail on Smokepaw's shoulders. "Like you said," he said. "We will find them."

Smokepaw nodded, nose to the ground. The scents of the moorland were dull and stale from the snow. It was almost as bad as water, washing away everything that came through it. But there was the hint of kit-scent. Nightcloud picked it up too and dashed forward. "Come on! The trail leads this way!"

The cats followed after Nightcloud, whose nose seemed to have a brain of it's own. She'd heard the she-cat was a great tracker due to her black pelt on the moorland, but she hadn't really thought much of it. She honestly viewed her as a grumpy old she-cat that no one really liked. _And that's why you shouldn't judge others._ Another lesson from Sedgewhisker came to mind. She was glad her mentor had such a moral code.

Nightcloud stopped by the marshes that separated the border between RiverClan and WindClan. She took another whiff of the air, "It ends here. Look around, everyone."

Smokepaw padded through the marshes, wincing as icy water sprang through her paws. "Morningkit?" she yowled. "Redkit?" The reeds of the marsh grew higher than her and she carefully picked her way through them, trying to see each and every angle.

Suddenly, the scent of kit grew stronger and Smokepaw dashed to a particularly deep part of the marsh. Lying on a bed of flatted grass was Morningkit. Her dark fur was soaked through and her chest rose and fell only slightly. "Kestrelflight!" Smokepaw yelled. "Everyone! I found Morningkit!"

The other cats raced forward with Kestrelflight in the lead. He gently picked up Morningkit from where she laid and raced back to dry land.

"Put her on my back," Nightcloud said.

Kestrelflight did so, "I need you to lick her fur the wrong way, Smokepaw."

Smokepaw rasped her tongue over the small, soaked kit, desperately trying to warm her up. Morningit shivered a little, a whimper coming from between her little jaws. Smokepaw continued licking, fiercer now. _You'll survive. You'll survive. You'll survive!_

"Mama?" Morningkit asked, her voice far too quiet. "It's me, Smokepaw. With Nightcloud, Heathertail, Oatclaw, and Kestrelflight."

"Tell Mama I'm sorry." the kit said. "it was a stupid dare."

"Where is your brother, Morningkit?" Oatclaw pressed.

"Stay awake," advised Kestrelflight. "Don't sleep. Make sure she doesn't fall asleep."

"Redkit?" Morningkit asked. "He's..." the she-kit let out another whimper, her little body convulsing.

"No!" Smokepaw yowled. "Morningkit, stay with us! Don't fall asleep."

"It's really snowing," the small kit murmured. "But I feel warm."

Smokepaw turned to Kestrelflight. "You're the medicine cat! Do something!"

Kestrelflight's tail drooped in sorrow. "There's nothing else we can do. She must've been laying in that pool for at least an hour. She's going to join StarClan."

"No!" Smokepaw kneading the young kit's fur with her paws, trying to get the blood to flow again. "No! Fox-Dung, no!"

But the she-kit had grown still.

The cats bowed their heads, Heathertail placing her tail around her daughter's shoulders. "I'm sorry."

"She was so young!" Smokepaw cried.

Oatclaw pressed his nose to the apprentice's flank. "She knows you did your best. We all did."

"What about Redkit?" Nightcloud asked, adjusting her body so the now-still kit wouldn't fall off her back. "Where could he be?"

"I don't know," Heathertail said, "But we need to get back to camp. My paws feel like their falling off."

Kestrelflight nodded. "We're no good to anyone if we freeze."

Smokepaw shivered, though she wasn't sure if it was from the icy wind and water or Morningkit's death. She hadn't known Featherpelt that well, but she'd spent time in the nursery talking to her kits, playing with them when she wasn't training. Featherpelt would feel awful once she found out. No she-cat deserved that.

Oatclaw nudged Smokepaw forward. "Come on," he said.

Smokepaw followed the cats back to camp.

XXXXXX

Flightpaw raised a paw to scratch her ear, which was filled with snow from a clump that had fallen on her by surprise from a tree. They found Redkit's scent near the ThunderClan border and if Breezepelt was right, it extended back into ThunderClan. They were currently trying to decide whether or not to wait for a patrol.

Flightpaw, along with Breezepelt and Hootwhisker, were too afraid to wait for a patrol to come. Redkit could be dead by now. _At least ThunderClan has more cover. Maybe he'll be warmer._ She winced. _I wonder if my mother was from ThunderClan?_ This wasn't the time to think about that.

"I can't take this anymore," Hootwhisker yowled. "Come on!" He darted through the undergrowth and with an unspoken agreement, the rest of the cats came with him.

Flightpaw shivered among the shadow of the trees. Leaves rustled and birds chirped, even in leaf-bare she heard the buzzing of insects. It was so much _louder_ than WindClan. And she couldn't see the sky. How could cats live without seeing the sky?

"What happens if we don't find them?" she asked. She wasn't really one for kits-that always seemed to be Smokepaw's thing. She didn't have the patience to play with them or listen to their chattering. But that didn't mean she wanted them to be dead. No cat deserved that.

"We'll find them," Emberfoot said.

Brindlepaw gave a affirming nod.

Something crashed through the bracken and gorse and Flightpaw almost jumped at the noise. A group of cats came racing from the undergrowth, straight toward them. She spotted the apprentice she'd seen on the border with his mentor, and two more warriors. One a dark brown tom and the other a reddish she-cat.

Breezepelt yowled as the she-cat ran into him, claws unsheathed and ready for an attack. Flightpaw jumped out of the way of Larkpaw's attack, rolling over into the ground. She'd have very little battle training and it was all her fault. Emberfoot tried to teach her but she'd been too busy moping. Now they would pay.

The dark brown tom bared his teeth at the WindClan cats. "Intruders!" His long, thorn-like claws came out.

"Stop!" Brindlepaw cried out. "We're not intruding. One of our kits went missing and his scent leads into the territory!"

The reddish she-cat stopped clawing at Breezepelt and flicked her ear while Larkpaw continued to hiss menacingly at Flightpaw, who gave him the same back.

"It's true," Emberfoot said. "We would've waited for a patrol but it's already been too long. We're worried they may freeze to death. Please, Thornclaw."

Thornclaw narrowed his eyes. "You can tell that to Bramblestar."

Hootwhisker hissed. "We don't have time!"

Breezepelt joined in. "He could be dead by the time we explain everything to Bramblestar!"

Thornclaw's ear twitched. "I didn't think you one to value another's life, Breezepelt."

The white she-cat lashed her tail in agreement, but said nothing. Flightpaw's eyes narrowed. She was really beginning to hate ThunderClan. How arrogant! And why did they always insult her father and her Clanmates?

"Whitewing, Larkpaw," Thornclaw said, "Lead them back to camp. Cherryfall and I will finish the patrol."

The white she-cat-Whitewing-nodded. "Come."

Flightpaw found herself with Brindlepaw on one side and Larkpaw on the other. She pinned her ears at the stench of the tom. Even for a ThunderClan cat he smelled particularly awful. Like he rolled in fox dung. Flightpaw wrinkled her nose.

"What are you looking at, rogue?" he hissed.

"Well, for one, I'm not _looking_ at anything. And _two_ , I'm not a rogue. Shut up." Flightpaw hissed.

"Whatever you say, rogue, half-clan, doesn't matter."

"Isn't half your Clan descended from kittypets?" Brindlepaw meowed, coming to her sister's defense. "Isn't your father the son of a kittypet? Wouldn't that make you part kittypet? You're a hypocrite."

Larkpaw's black fur bushed up. "Snowbush and Cloudtail are _loyal_ warriors."

"And so is Flightpaw." Brindlepaw said. "So there's no reason to argue now, is there?"

Larkpaw huffed and raced ahead. Flightpaw purred at her sister. "Thanks."

"Well I couldn't let him be a jerk to you." She replied.

The cats entered through a tunnel of gorse until they were inside the strangest camp Flightpaw had ever seen. High stone walls surrounded three sides of them and dens were woven out of a fallen beech in the middle of the clearing. There was a high ledge where she guessed the leader spoke and a path going back into what she guessed was where his nest was. She knew most of the time Onestar slept with his warriors. Did ThunderClan's leader ever feel lonely there? Did he even care?

"Breezepelt," A hiss caught her attention. "What is the meaning of this?"

Flightpaw's eyes widened at the large, broad shouldered, dark tabby tom. His claws were _huge_ and his amber eyes glittered with checked hostility.

"Two of our kits went missing, Bramblestar." It was Hootwhisker who replied. "My son and daughter. MY son's trail led into ThunderClan territory, we were following it before your patrol attacked us and brought us here."

"Do you think we've stolen one of your kits?" Another cat hissed. Flightpaw recognized the cat with the stumpy tail and her ears pinned back. Where these cats always so hostile.

Hootwhisker managed to stay calm, though she figured he was shaking inside. "Of course not. There was no ThunderClan scent on the trail. But we would like to find our kit before he freezes to death." his mew broke a bit at those words.

Bramblestar's eyes searched over the WindClan patrol. "Lionblaze, Dovewing, Ivypool, go with them and search. Berrynose, Brackenfur, Cloudtail, Dewnose, and Hollytuft, go to the WindClan border, this may be a trap."

"It isn't," Flightpaw hissed. "Can't you see that you mouse-brain!"

Lionblaze turned to her, ice in his amber eyes. "Well it wouldn't be the first time WindClan blamed ThunderClan for their own carelessness."

A muffled hiss came from Breezepelt. "Come on," he said, plunging out of the camp. Flightpaw followed him, her ears twitching at what Lionblaze said. What was that cat's problem with WindClan and her father?

"Who made dirt in his fresh-kill?" She whispered to Brindlepaw.

Brindlepaw shrugged. "His brother is the medicine cat and he seems nice. Very grumpy, but not like Lionblaze."

"Tell us where you last scented them," Dovewing said.

"Past the border and across the stream, a bit into the woodland." Emberfoot said.

"We'll start there," the gray she-cat said and lead them through the bracken. Flightpaw had her nose to the ground and strained her ears in case she was able to hear anything the others might not. Her fur prickled up as the feeling of someone watching her settled in and she noticed the gray she-cat looking at her curiously.

"What?" she snapped. "I have big ears. It's rude to stare."

The she cat turned away, eyes to the ground. Lionblaze growled. "You should teach your _daughter_ some respect."

Breezepelt hissed. "She'll respect those who've earned it."

The silver and white tabby, Ivypool, flicked her tail. "Cut it out you two. Yes, I also mean you, Lionblaze. What happened was in the past."

"The past is pretty present, in my opinion." the golden tom muttered.

Brindlepaw and Smokepaw exchanged a look but said nothing.

The sun was starting to sink and they were still searching, the kit's scent present but without the kit there. Worry buzzed in Flightpaw's chest like hornets. If they couldn't find Redkit, she was afraid what would happen to him and Featherpelt. What if the other patrol hadn't found Morningkit? Smokepaw and Nightcloud were excellent trackers, surely they could find the kit in less covered territory. She muttered a curse to herself as a thorn caught her ear.

"Stupid ears," she said, pawing the thorn off. "Why do you have to be so big?"

 _You'll be grateful for it one day_. The apprentice jumped at the voice. "Who said that?" she meowed.

"Said what?" Emberfoot asked, his head turned to the side.

"N-nothing," Flightpaw stuttered, shocked. _Am I going crazy? StarClan, I hope not._

 _Follow my voice._ There it was again! Flightpaw raced forward toward the sound, the thorns and briars tearing at her pelt. Behind her, Breezepelt and Lionblaze sprinted to keep up, while Emberfoot, Hootwhisker, and Brindlepaw froze, startled, before following.

She could hear the cat calling her. _Come on, you're almost there._

She stopped in front of what looked like a fox-hole and with a gasp of relief, realized that Redkit's fresh scent came from below. Before anyone could say anything, she darted inside, tumbling down farther than she thought and landing roughly in an underground tunnel. Something echoed off the far corner of the cave.

Breezepelt skidded down next, his claws digging into the dirt, with Lionblaze at the rear.

"Why do your kits always end up in these tunnels?" Lionblaze muttered.

"Why don't you ever keep track of and fill up all the tunnels?" Breezepelt retorted.

"Are you sure you smell him?" That was Brindlepaw, slowly coming down with the silver and white tabby she-cat. She slipped once, but the she-cat caught her by the scruff and placed her upright.

"I can do more than _smell_ him!" Flightpaw exclaimed as the echoes became clearer. They were mews! Redkit! She raced forward by a large stone outcrop, but skid to a stop at the sight of a large river. "StarClan! What is this place? Did ThunderClan make it?"

"No," Lionblaze said shortly, peering at the ledge above their heads. "No we didn't."

Flightpaw's ear perked up. The mewing was coming from up high. "I think he's on the ledge!" she exclaimed and without a second thought, sprang up with a gigantic leap. Breezepelt was unable to hold back his purr at the sight of his daughter's strong leap. He'd never seen a cat like that.

"Hello," she called into the darkness. There was a little crack behind the ledge that might've led into a small den. "Redkit?"

"Flightpaw?" Redkit's terrified voice came from the crack. "is that you?"

"Yes, it's me, Breezepelt, Emberfoot, Brindlepaw, and your father. And some ThunderClan cats. Do you need help getting out."

The scared kit mewed an agreement. Flightpaw crouched low until she could fit into the small crack, where Redkit had wedged himself. Even at two moons, the kit was as big as she'd been at five and he'd obviously had trouble trying to fit into the crack. Carefully, they worked their way out.

When she leapt down, the kit dangling from her jaws, Hootwhisker bounded forward. "Redkit!" he shouted, "What were you thinking? You had us all worried sick!"

Redkit shivered from Flightpaw's jaws and she placed the kit on the stoney floor. "Morningkit and I were bored. Featherpelt, Rabbitkit, and Duskkit were asleep and we wanted to explore. We wandered a little but didn't go too far, until two cats from StarClan came! They told us they knew great places to explore! Morningkit went off with one and I went off with the other...but when I got here, the cat was gone and I didn't remember how to get back."

Breezepelt, Lionblaze, Dovewing, and Ivypool all raised their hackles and they looked like they were having a silent conversation with their eyes alone.

"Redkit," Ivypool asked. "What-what did the cats look like?"

Redkit looked down. "I don't want them to get in trouble!"

"Redkit," Hootwhisker said. "What did they look like?"

The kit swallowed. "Well, they were two she-cats. One was tortoiseshell and white and the other was mottled brown."

From somewhere in the cave, fear scent flowed. "Come on," Breezepelt said. "Let's get you home."

The kit nodded and allowed his father to carry him out of the tunnels. They cats started trekking back to the border, eerily silent. Flightpaw's fur stood on end, though she wasn't entirely sure why.

Breezepelt hissed. "I've got a thorn in my paw, I'll be right there. Go on ahead."

"I'll help," Ivypool said. "Come over her, it's clearer."

"I can do it," Brindlepaw said.

"No, it's fine, Brindlepaw. Redkit might need you." Breezepelt said, following the she-cat. "Go on ahead."

Flightpaw turned to Brindlepaw and the two she-cats looked at the dwindling patrol. Without a word, they turned around to follow their father.

 **AN: Hey guys! I got another chapter for you! Tell me what you think of it!**

 **QOTD:**

 **1\. Who do you guys think were the she-cats?**

 **2\. Were you surprised about Morningkit?**

 **3\. Any new opinions on our golden trio of siblings?**

 **4\. Who is your favorite warrior in the series?**


	6. Chapter 5: Dark Secrets

Flightpaw's ears pricked up as she stalked through the undergrowth, following her father and the ThunderClan cat. Her sister followed close behind, the fur on her shoulders rising. Flightpaw could tell she was conflicted about spying on them, but at the same time she was determined that Flightpaw not go alone. She scowled as she ducked through the bracken and ferns. How did ThunderClan live without ever seeing the sky or going mad from such tight spaces? Her sister's amber eyes were unimpressed by the terrain as well.

"I think I smell them," Flightpaw hissed and ducked behind a log. Brindlepaw followed.

Leaves crunched from around them and branches snapped back and force. Flightpaw huddle against Brindlepaw. This place was so _loud_! She missed the wind blowing through the moor. But she still wanted to find out what was happening and why Breezepelt needed to speak to a ThunderClan cat. Especially after they were so hostile to them! _And to think, Lionblaze is his half-brother. Huh. Well, we know who got the better personality._ Lionblaze reminded her of Crowfeather if Crowfeather was also arrogant and aggressive.

The scent of her father and Ivypool drifted toward them and Flightpaw sighed. Good, they were downwind. She strained her ears to listen to the hushed conversation.

"Do you think it could really be the Dark Forest?" her father asked. "Those description...it sounds like Mapleshade and Sparrowfeather. We don't know how many cats are left there."

"Well, _I_ don't," Ivypool's mew was hostile.

Brindlepaw's shoulder fur started to rise and Flightpaw put her tail around her sister's shoulders.

"I haven't been there since the Great Battle. I swore my loyalty to WindClan, to my family, and that is how it's stayed." Breezepelt said firmly.

"I know, but it might not look that way to others," Ivypool's ear twitched. "Do you think there'll be another battle?"

"There can't be," Breezepelt said. "We beat them once...or, well..." he trailed off, looking at the ground. Flightpaw wondered why there was such a guilty expression on his face. WindClan didn't talk much about the battle and who fought and who died. Perhaps Breezepelt lost someone he cared about?

"We beat them once," Ivypool said. "And I don't think they'll be able to use their methods to attack again. But I don't know why they'd appear. Nothing has been reported like this in ThunderClan."

"What about ShadowClan? Perhaps you could ask Tigerheart next Gathering?"

Ivypool nodded, "Yes. I could. And perhaps you could ask Minnowtail if you see her?"

"I don't like to think that the Dark Forest could be rising again so soon. But if it does, at least we'll be ready."

"StarClan go with you, Breezepelt," Ivypool called, turning back toward the way to the ThunderClan camp.

"And with you as well," Breezepelt said. He waited until Ivypool had disappeared from sight before going over to the log where Flightpaw and her sister hid behind. "You two can come out now."

Flightpaw lashed her tail in frustration. "How'd you know it was us?"

"Logs don't usually have tufts of fur sticking from them."

Flightpaw drew a paw over her ear, glaring menacingly at the little black-ish tufts that had grown in after kithood. She had to be the one with the weirdest ears. didn't she?

"We're sorry we listened, but we wanted to know." Brindlepaw said. "Why would cats from the Dark Forest try to hurt WindClan kits?"

Breezepelt shook his head. "StarClan knows. But we need to get back to our own territory."

Flightpaw followed her father, thinking. He'd said he done bad in the past but he was trying to make up for it each and every day. She heard and saw the accusation in Ivypool's voice and eyes and the look Lionblaze had given him. She remembered the snide comments he said, too. She was coming to a conclusion, but it was one she desperately wanted to reject.

Once they crossed the stream to their lands, though, she couldn't keep it in any longer. "Did you train in the Dark Forest, Breezepelt?"

Breezepelt stiffened. "I did more than train. I fought for them."

Brindlepaw let out a yowl of disbelief. "But how could you? How could you do that to your own Clan, to StarClan!"

Flightpaw pressed her pelt against her sister. "I'm sure he had his reasons."

"I told you I did things in the past that I wasn't proud of. That was one of them. The Dark Forest manipulated me and used the treatment my father gave me, the neglect I felt, against me. I paid the price for it." Breezepelt bowed his head. "I learned my lesson."

Brindlepaw's fur was sticking straight up. "How do we know that? How do we know you're _still_ not with the Dark Forest? How do we know you're not the reason StarClan won't talk to us! Maybe it's you and that's why we're being punished."

Breezepelt's amber eyes glittered with alarm. "StarClan isn't talking to you?" he asked, but Brindlepaw had already run off.

Flightpaw watched her sister go, wondering if she should go after her. But it looked like her father needed her more now and besides, Brindlepaw would come to her senses later. She had to know their father was a loyal WindClan warrior. If not in the past, in the present and for the future.

"She's just shocked," Flightpaw said. "She is the medicine cat apprentice."

Breezepelt said nothing as he watched his daughter go, a flicker of hurt in his eyes. Then he turned to Flightpaw. "Get back to camp. I'm going hunting."

Flightpaw knew better than to argue and bounded forward through the moorland to the WindClan camp. The ground was soggy now, with little snow left, and it made her feel like she was walking on ShadowClan territory. She had never been there, of course, but she heard it was like marshlands and that every step you risked sinking into the ground forever.

She hadn't even passed the gorse barrier when she realized something was horribly wrong. Then she smelled it-the scent of death. She raced through the gorse, the thorns tearing at her fur, and came through to the clearing to see a tiny gray kit lying in the middle of the clearing. Morningkit.

Redkit was standing next to his mother, eyes on the ground. "It's all my fault," he yowled in pain.

Featherpelt didn't say anything, just pressed her nose against his head, then went to sit vigil for her dead daughter.

Smokepaw watched from a distance, seeing Redkit's despair, and decided that perhaps she should do something. The ache of finding Morningkit's dead body still echoed inside of her and she wanted to shred whoever would hurt a harmless kit. She made her way over to Redkit and placed a tail around his dark ginger shoulders. "Come on, Redkit. You need to rest." She led him back to the nursery where Kestrelflight was waiting with poppy seeds. The kit licked them up, then curled miserably in a ball.

###

"No, Flightpaw. It's called a belly rake, not a belly kick-your-mentor-halfway-across-the-clearing!" Emberfoot grumbled, getting to his paws. He had to admit, the she-cat had a lot of power in her hind legs, but he wasn't keen on getting kicked across the clearing. Especially when she was supposed to rake his belly, not kick. But he supposed that was still a valuable move.

"Okay," he said, watching his apprentice narrow her eyes at the thought of another bout. "Try again. Let's do a mock fight."

Emberfoot lunged forward, batting at Flightpaw's ears with sheathed claws. Flightpaw ducked and raced past him, one paw brushing against his pelt in a mock-rake. She turned quickly, before he could, and nipped at his back legs. Emberfoot turned as she was under his legs, taking the young apprentice off her feet and having the two cats rolling in the dust. When the dust settled, the mentor was on top, but not for long. Another one of Flightpaw's massive kicks had thrown him off.

He was going to have such a bellyache later. He could just tell. "You're getting better," he said. "You've caught up with Smokepaw, at least. So we'll hold sessions with her and Sedgewhisker from now on."

Flightpaw nodded. Her mind went to her other sister, Brindlepaw. "Do you think Brindlepaw will be okay?" She still was refusing to talk to Breezepelt.

"Sooner or later, she'll understand." But Emberfoot was unsure.

###

Brindlepaw was now trusted enough to go out and collect herbs by herself. She could already tell most of them apart, save a few harder ones, and she knew some basic medicine training. There was a good patch of comfrey and thyme near the Horseplace that would help settle Redkit and Featherpelt's nerves. She carefully picked at the stems, the strong aroma of the herbs all around her.

Then she smelled something else, a sharp, odd cat-scent that she'd never smelled before. Not ThunderClan or RiverClan or ShadowClan, definitely not WindClan. She'd run into the Horseplace cats before and they didn't smell like this.

Quickly, she put her collection of herbs in a hiding place and peered up from behind a scrubby bush.

"Creek, is this the place?" A tom asked.

"I think so, Sand," the she-cat-Creek-responded. "WindClan."

Sand purred in delight. "Wonderful."

Brindlepaw narrowed her eyes at the rogues. How did they know about WindClan? She didn't get the chance to ask, as they ran back across the moor to the Horseplace. With an odd feeling in her belly, she collected her herbs and left, promising herself she'd speak to Onestar.


	7. Chapter 6: Rogues

It had been a half-moon since Brindlepaw had reacted negatively to the news that Breezepelt had fought for the Dark Forest and in that time she still ignored her father whenever he came to talk to her. If he needed the help of a medicine cat, she was just that. No relations whatsoever.

Flightpaw thought it was a bit dumb, to say the least. Obviously Breezepelt was different now and should be given another chance. When she deposited her prey-a rabbit and two mice-on the fresh kill pile she took the rabbit over to her father and sat next to him. He was watching Brindlepaw with a sad look on his face.

Smokepaw followed her and pressed her muzzle to his pelt. "She'll forgive you soon," she said.

"If she doesn't she's an idiot." Flightpaw said.

"Maybe she was right," Breezepelt sighed. "Maybe whatever is happening is my fault."

Flightpaw's fur bristled. "We don't even know what's happening! Kestrelwing and Onestar barely tol us anything when we asked!"

"We're not medicine cats," Smokepaw put in.

"But we should know StarClan hasn't abandoned us! I don't believe it. Even if those dead cats turn up again, StarClan is with us! Even if we don't see them."

Breezepelt purred, fondness glittering in his eyes for his adopted daughter. "The Gathering is tonight," he said. "I've talked to your mentors and they've both agreed you could go. Onestar, too."

Flightpaw quivered with excitement. Her first Gathering! She'd been an apprentice for a over a moon and had missed the last Gathering when she had to catch up to her sister during training but now she would be able to go! There would be so many cats and she'd never met RiverClan or ShadowClan before, though she wasn't quite looking forward to ThunderClan and their arrogance again.

"You two better go eat something and rest," Breezepelt said. "I'll wake you two when it's time to go."

Smokepaw and Flightpaw nodded and tucked into the rabbit with Breezepelt. Though it was plumper now that Leaf-Bare was turning into New-Leaf, it still was gone way too fast for Flightpaw's liking. She stretched and padded with Smokepaw to the apprentices den but didn't enter.

"You coming?" Smokepaw asked.

"I think I'm going to go out hunting again," Flightpaw said. "The fresh kill pile is still small." She glanced at the pile which only had a hare, a pigeon, and her two mice.

Smokepaw snorted. "Fine, but don't complain to me when you're tired!"

"I won't!" Flightpaw raced off across the clearing and out of the camp, reveling in the wind in her fur. It was obvious that it was getting warmer and as she dashed through the moorland, she found herself excited for when the ground would become solid enough to lie on and the sun warm enough to bathe in.

She slowed to a stop by a hilly section of the moors, sniffing out the scent of a few rabbits. She crouched low, seeing the critters nibbling on a few dandelions and slowly stalked forward, waiting until she was close enough to dash after them.

Suddenly a crack sent the rabbits running. Flightpaw mrrowed in frustration and raced after them but their early warning had them gone before she could catch up. She lashed her tail, about to shred whatever cost her her prey.

Spiky red fur stood up behind a clump of gorse and Flightpaw sighed. "Redkit, come out of there!"

The tomkit slowly crept out from behind the gorse, eyes on the ground.

"What were you doing! You know you're not supposed to leave camp! Feathertail must be losing her mind!" Flightpaw scolded the young kit. How could he be so stupid-right after his sister died too!

"Feathertail was sleeping and so were Duskkit and Rabbitkit! I was bored." He said defiantly.

"Well, next time ask a warrior to take you instead of following me! You just lost me my rabbit!" Flightpaw hissed. The red tomkit looked crestfallen and she sighed. She remembered when she was three moons old and wanted to get out of camp too. "Come on, let's go back and make sure Feathertail isn't pulling her fur out worrying about you." _For the second time,_ she added mentally.

The sedge around her rustled and she bristled. "Don't tell me your littermates followed you." She said, but Redkit shook his head.

Then the smell hit her. It wasn't the warm, earthy, clean scent of WindClan, nor the musky scent of ThunderClan. In all honesty, she could even pinpoint what Clan it was from-if it was from a clan. All she knew was it smelled nasty, like crowfood, and make the fur on her shoulders stand up.

She caught a flash of cinnamon fur and amber eyes and she unsheathed her claws. "Rogues," she said, her tail curling protectively around Redkit. A growl was deep in her throat as she said, "Come on out. I know you're here!"

A brownish red cat came out first, his golden eyes flickering between Flightpaw and Redkit. After him came a cream she-cat with amber eyes. Flightpaw growled a warning, but the tomcat seemed to ignore it.

"This is WindClan territory, you're tresspassing," she said.

"Calm down, little one," the she-cat mewed. Her voice was soft. "We know. We would like to speak to your leader."

Flightpaw stared at the two cats for a long while. "Why?" she asked.

"If we speak to your leader then you'll know soon enough, won't you?" the tom answered her.

Flightpaw lashed her tail but nodded. There was no way she could take on the two of them and protect Redkit at the same time. "Come on," she said, leading the rogue cats back to the clearing. Startled mews broke out at the sight of them and Feathertail raced over to grab Redkit, licking him furiously in between scoldings.

"Flightpaw," Sedgewhisker approached her, wariness in her voice. "Who are these cats?"

"They asked to speak to Onestar," Flightpaw said. "I was protecting Redkit, who had followed me, I wouldn't have been able to fight them. So I honored their request."

Sedgewhisker nodded and disappeared into Onestar's den. Flightpaw kneaded the ground with her paws. She would be in trouble, would she? There was no way she would've been able to fight the two grown cats, especially with only two moons of training and a lousy, rebellious kit to look after.

Then her leader padded out of his den, cocking his head to the side at the sight of the rogue cats. "And you are?"

The tomcat spoke first. "I am Creek and my companion here is Sand. We've heard many tales about your Clan from far away; how they run fast as the ancient cats before them and sleep under the stars with no fear. We wanted to join your Clan."

Murmurs broke out from the surrounding cats and Flightpaw strained to hear all of them. It looked like most of them thought that adding more rogues to the Clan was a bad idea, which made her hackles rise as she knew some of them counted her as one, but she also heard those saying WindClan needed more cats now more than ever since many died in the great battle.

She sat silently, watching the cats talk amongst themselves and Onestar leading the two rogues into his den with Sedgewhisker following behind him.

"How come you always get the exciting stuff when you go out?" Smokepaw appeared beside her sister, a teasing lilt in her mew.

Flightpaw headbutted her sister. "Because I don't sleep the day away!"

Smokepaw play-growled and got into a fighting crouch. "You'll regret that!" she sprung and the two sisters tussled through the clearing, nipping and batting at each other, until they rolled right into Brindlepaw.

Brindlepaw dropped the leaf wrap she was holding, sending herbs scattering in the clearing. "Fox dung!" she swore. "can you guys be any more stupid?"

Flightpaw and Smokepaw untangled themselves. "You're the one being stupid! Stop snapping at us for no reason!"

"You don't know there's no reason!" she hissed. "You wouldn't know the reason if StarClan itself decided to ascend upon you!"

"Well, sorry we're not super special medicine cats who are too good to forgive our own fathers!" Flightpaw spat.

"Seriously, Brindlepaw, you've been no fun ever since you found out. Can't you forgive him? He's our father." Smokepaw sounded calmer but only just.

"You don't get it," Brindlepaw said. "He's the reason StarClan-" Whatever the protest was, it was cut off my Kestrelflight's tail slapping over his apprentice's mouth.

"Come on, Brindlepaw, let's get these herbs back in order." He said and Brindlepaw nodded though her amber eyes still burned.

Smokepaw snorted. "Someone must keep putting dirt in her fresh-kill."

Flightpaw nodded. Overhead Onestar had jumped on the TallRock and yowled the customary calling for a meeting. She fell in line by her sister and parents, noticing how Brindlepaw chose to sit beside her mentor instead. Emberfoot sat beside her with Fernshadow and Slightfoot close by. Across the clearing she could see Gorsetail, Furzepelt, and Breezepelt's parents.

"Cats of WindClan," he said. "As you all know, we are short of warriors ever since the Great Battle. These two rouges," he pointed with his tail to Creek and Sand, "have asked for the honor of joining WindClan. After much thought and discussion with them and my deputy, I have decided to give them a trial period. They will live with us for one moon and if in that time they prove themselves to be worthy WindClan warriors, we will accept them." Murmurs broke out from the crowd and Flightpaw was pleased to hear that there were no negative comments about rogues. Though she didn't quite like the way Creek's unsettling green eyes rested on her from time to time, she knew WindClan was desperate for warriors.

"That being said, it's time for the chosen cats to go to the Gathering. Emberfoot, Heathertail, Breezepelt, Furzepelt, Slightfoot, Smokepaw, and Flightpaw will be going."

Onestar leapt off the Tallrock and waved his tail at the group of gathering cats. "Let's go. Sedgewhisker is in charge until we return."

Flightpaw kneaded the ground with excitement. Her first Gathering! She could hardly wait until Onestar gave the signal for the WindClan cats to race out of camp. She kept pace with her father, both of them fast as the wind itself. She hardly had time to stop when she got to the tree-bridge, nearly sliding into the lake. Emberfoot caught her by the scruff. "Careful now!" he mewed. "Remember, the Gathering is a time of peace. Make sure you talk to the other clans, try to learn a bit, but don't give away our secrets."

Flightpaw nodded and hopped up onto the tree-bridge.

The island was full of cats, their scents mingling and cloying the air. She breathed it in, trying to distinguish them. She could smell ThunderClan and RiverClan, but not ShadowClan. Perhaps they hadn't arrived yet. Smokepaw headed off to talk to some of the ThunderClan apprentices, but Flightpaw chose to go a different way. The black tom, Larkpaw, was there and she wasn't about to get into a spat with him during the Gathering. The scent of ShadowClan grew stronger and she saw the cats slink through the night and onto the island, near invisible with their grace.

So she picked her way quietly through the cats until she found a cluster of warriors and listened. A dark ginger she-cat was talking about rogues scented on their territory. She smelled of ThunderClan and Flightpaw wondered if the rogues were the same rogues as Creek and Sand. A ShadowClan she-cat joined in the conversation, along with two more cats from ThunderClan.

"Hello," a voice spoke from behind her. Flightpaw turned to see the ginger she-cat watching her.

"Hi," Flightpaw said.

"Is this your first Gathering," the she-cat asked.

"Yes," Flightpaw said. "Um, I'm Flightpaw."

"Squirrelflight."

Flightpaw's eyes widened. The ThunderClan deputy? "Nice to meet you, Squirrelflight."

The ginger she-cat's eyes sparkled with amusement. "This is Tawnypelt," she motioned toward the ShadowClan cat. "And these two are Daisy and Rosepetal."

Flightpaw cocked her head to the side as she took in the cream colored she-cat. "Why don't you have a warrior name?"

Daisy's mew was soft and kind. "I joined the Clan when my kits were very young but I originally came from the horseplace. All my kits have clan names, but I decided to keep mine."

The other she-cat, Rosepetal, eyed Flightpaw curiously. "What do you think about that?"

"I think it's admirable to keep your old name and remember where you came from," she said. Daisy purred and Squirrelflight nodded in agreement.

 _Maybe ThunderClan cats aren't all that bad_ , she thought. At least these three sounded kind. "You're the ones Breezepelt went with to the mountains, aren't you!" She suddenly exclaimed, remembering the names.

Tawnypelt purred. "Yes, Squirrelflight and I did. And we were the ones who found the Clan's new homes."

"Whoa," Flightpaw's eyes were huge with admiration. "Was it hard?"

"At first, yes, but we learned to work together." Tawnypelt said. "Squirrelflight and Crowfeather were just 'paws then and both were a big pawful!"

"Remember when I got stuck on the fence and you and Feathertail got me out while all the other toms were arguing?" Squirrelflight's green eyes flickered with amusement.

"How could I forget!"

A yowl signaled that the Gathering had begun and Flightpaw shifted until she was looking toward the Great Oak. Beside her, another cat shuffled into place, nodding a greeting at Tawnypelt and the ThunderClan she-cats.

"If anyone does not object, I will go first," A blue-grey queen spoke first. She had gray furs dotting her muzzle and pelt and her bones showed through despite the warmer weather. Was she sick?

"Mistystar is very old," the new cat whispered in her ear. "She was already a warrior before Firestar came to the Clans."

Flightpaw took in the new cat. He was a gray and white tom. "That must be pretty old," she mewed.

The tom nodded.

"RiverClan has been doing well," the leader continued. "We have two new litters of kits and Icewing's kits Nightkit and Breezekit, have become Nightpaw and Breezepaw. They are here today for their first Gathering." The cats around her cheered their names and Flightpaw joined in. "The river has unfrozen and the fish have been swimming. However, a few quarter moons ago we found WindClan scent by our border in the marshy area. Let it be known if any cats tresspass they shall be dealt with harshly."

Flightpaw swallowed a growl. That was where Morningkit died, the idiot!

"I think I can put your fears to rest, Mistystar," Onestar spoke smoothly. "A while ago two of our kits snuck out of camp. One was found on the RiverClan border and the other in ThunderClan territory." He made no mention of Morningkit's death. "Rest assured we're not invading."

Mistystar huffed. "Very well."

"I'll go next," Flightpaw recognized the big brown tabby as Bramblestar. "Prey has been running well. We ran into a few foxes but chased them off. I think they might've crossed into your territory, Rowanstar, I would keep a look out."

"Great," Rowanstar mewed. "Just what we needed."

Bramblestar continued, "Dovewing has moved to the nursery with Bumblestripe's kits and Ivypool with Fernsong's. Alderpaw has taken on his full medicine cat name and is now Alderheart, his sister has also become a warrior, with the name Sparkstep." More cheering among the cats and Flightpaw saw Squirrelflight sit up with pride. "Honeypaw and Leafpaw are also warriors, by the names Honeyflower and Leafbreeze. That is all."

While the rest of the cats chanted the two warriors new names, Flightpaw spotted Larkpaw and realized he was the only one not chanting. Were Honeyflower and Leafbreeze his siblings? Did he get held back?

"Larkpaw is my brother's kit," the cat beside her said. "He's always getting into trouble, so his apprenticeship got extended. But it won't be long now."

Rowanstar spoke next. "ShadowClan has had no issues and the prey is running well. We'll keep a look out for those foxes, Bramblestar. Be sure to send them somewhere else next time, will you?" Acid dripped from his mew.

Finally, Onestar spoke. Flightpaw felt her ears pricking up. Was he going to mention the rogues? What about her? She knew that Smokepaw and Brindlepaw had already been announced at the previous Gathering. She leaned forward as he spoke.

"As I said to Mistystar, two of our kits went adventuring but we have recovered them. The rabbits are running well and our fresh-kill pile is full. Breezepelt and Heathertail's final kit has is here as her first Gathering as an apprentice. Flightpaw, who is mentored by Emberfoot."

Flightpaw waited for the cheering, but the silence hit her like ice water. Why was everyone looking at her?

From somewhere in the throng of cats, a tom yowled out in protest.

 **AN: Hey guys! New chapter, finally! Some questions for ya!**

 **1\. What type of importance might Sand and Creek play in the plot?**

 **2\. Should Brindlepaw forgive her father? Is she taking her duties as a medicine cat too seriously?**

 **3\. Redkit is a sneaky little bastard, should his apprentice ceremony be held back?**

 **4\. How do you think the Gathering cats will react as Flightpaw was announced as Breezepelt and Heathertail's daughter when before it was only announced Heathertail had two kits?**


	8. Updated Allegiance & sneak peak at Chp 7

Hey, everyone! This is going to be for the updated allegiances of all the clans and a preview for the next chapter to come!

Hopefully you all enjoy it! I'll also let on some facts I have about the story!

 **Allegiances**

 **WindClan:**

 **Leader:** Onestar (brown tabby tom, 4 lives left)

 **Deputy:** Sedgewhisker (light brown tabby she-cat)  
 _Apprentice: Smokepaw (dark grey, almost black, she-cat)_

 **Medicine Cat:** Kestrelflight (mottled grey tom with white splotches like kestrel feathers)  
 _Apprentice: Brindlepaw (Mottled brown she-cat)_

 **Warriors:**

Heathertail (Light brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes)

Nightcloud (Black she-cat)

Gorsetail (Very pale white and grey she-cat with blue eyes)

Crowfeather (Dark grey tom)

Breezepelt (Dark grey, almost black, tom with amber eyes)

Leaftail: (Dark tabby tom with amber eyes)

Emberfoot: (Grey tom with two dark paws)  
 _Apprentice: Flightpaw (Golden-brown she-cat with large ears, amber eyes, and a white tail tip)_

Furzepelt: (Grey and white she-cat)

Larkwing: (pale brown tabby she-cat)

Slightfoot: (black tom with white flash on chest)

Oatclaw: (pale brown tabby tom)

Hootwhisker: (Dark Grey tabby tom)

Fernshadow: (Dark brown she-cat)

 **Queens:** (She-cats expecting or nursing kits)

Featherpelt: (gray tabby she-cat, mother of Redkit, Rabbitkit, and Duskkit.)

 **Apprentices:**

Smokepaw: Dark grey she-cat

Brindlepaw: Mottled brown she-cat

Flightpaw: Golden brown, almost cinnamon colored she-cat with a white tail tip, large ears, long, strong hind legs, and amber eyes

 **Kits:**

Redkit: (Reddish brown tabby tom with amber eyes, a troublemaker)

Rabbitkit (Brown she-cat with blue eyes)

Duskkit (Pale grey tom with amber eyes)

Morningkit (Pale grey she-cat with blue eyes. Deceased)

 **Elders** :

Whitetail (Small white she-cat)

 **ThunderClan:**

 **Leader:** Bramblestar (dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes)

 **Deputy:** Squirrelflight (Dark Ginger she-cat with green eyes and one white paw)

 **Medicine Cat(s):** Jayfeather (Grey tabby tom with blind blue eyes)  
 _Apprentice: Alderheart (dark ginger tom with amber eyes)_

 **Warriors:**

Whitewing: (white she-cat with green eyes)  
 _Apprentice: Larkpaw (Black tom)_

Birchfall: ( light brown tabby tom)

Berrynose: (Cream colored tom with a stump for a tail)

Mousewhisker: (Gray and white tom)

Poppyfrost: (Pale tortoiseshell and white she-cat)

Cinderheart: (gray she-cat)

Lionblaze: (Golden brown tabby tom with amber eyes)

Rosepetal: (Dark cream she-cat)

Briarlight: (Dark brown she cat paralyzed in her hindquarters)

Blossomfall: (tortoiseshell and white she-cat with petal shaped white patches)

Bumblestripe: (very pale grey tom with black stripes)

Cherryfall: (Ginger she-cat)

Molewhisker: (Brown and cream tom)

Stormcloud: (gray tabby tom)

Snowbush: (fluffy white tom)

Ambermoon: (pale ginger she-cat)

Dewnose: (white and grey tom)

Hollytuft: (Black she cat)

Fernsong: (yellow tabby tom)

Sorrelstripe: (dark brown she-cat)

Leafbreeze: (tortoiseshell she-cat)

Honeyflower: (white she-cat with yellow splotches, soon to be queen)

Sparkstep: (bold ginger she cat with green eyes, spitting image of firestar as a she-cat)  
Apprentice: Twigpaw

 **Queens:**

Dovewing: (Gray she-cat with green eyes, mother to Bumblestripe's kits; Briarkit, Coldkit, and Sunkit)

Ivypool: (silver and white tabby she-cat with dark blue eyes, mother to Fernsong's kits; Hollykit, Beetlekit, Applekit, and Hazelkit)

Daisy: (Cream, long-furred she-cat, permanent queen who helps young queens and new arrivals)

Lilyheart: (tortoiseshell and white she-cat, permanent queen, expecting Snowbush's second litter)

 **Apprentices:**

Larkpaw: Black tom

Twigpaw: grey she-cat

 **Elders:**

Brackenfur: (golden tabby tom)

Cloudtail: (long-haired white tom with blue eyes)

Brightheart: (white she-cat with ginger patches)

Thornclaw: (Golden brown tabby tom)

Millie: (Striped silver tabby she-cat with blue eyes)

Graystripe: (long haired grey tom)

Purdy: (Plump tabby with graying muzzle)

 **Kits:**

Briarkit: (Dark brown tabby she-kit)

Coldkit: (Pale grey she-kit)

Sunkit: (Dark grey tomkit with black stripes)

Hollykit: (Black tomkit with amber eyes)

Beetlekit: (Yellow tabby tomkit)

Applekit: (yellow and white she-kit)

Hazelkit: (silver tabby tomkit)

 **RiverClan:**

 **Leader:** Mistystar (old grey she-cat with blue eyes)

 **Deputy:** Reedwhisker (Black tom)

 **Medicine Cat(s):** Mothflight (dappled golden she-cat)

Willowshine (Gray tabby she-cat)

 **Warriors:**

Mintfur: (Light grey tabby tom)

Duskfur: (brown tabby she-cat)  
 _Apprentice: Shadepaw (dark brown she-cat)_

Minnowtail: dark grey she-cat  
 _Apprentice: Nightpaw (black she-cat with blue eyes)_

Mallownose: light brown tabby tom

Petalfur: gray and white she cat  
 _Apprentice: Breezepaw ( white tom with wind-blown fur)_

Curlfeather: pale brown she-cat

Podlight: gray and white tom

Heronwing: dark grey-and-black tom

Shimmerpelt: silver she-cat

Lizardtail: light brown tom  
 _Apprentice: Foxpaw (russet tabby tom)_

Havenpelt: Black and white she cat

Jayclaw: gray tom

Brackenpelt: tortoiseshell she-cat

Owlnose: brown tabby tom

Icewing: whit she-cat with blue eyes

 **Queens:**

Lakeheart: gray tabby she-cat

 **Apprentices:**

Nightpaw: Black she-cat with blue eyes

Breezepaw: White tom with wind-blown fur

Shadepaw: dark brown she-cat

Foxpaw: Russet colored tom

 **Elders** :

Mosspelt: tortioseshell and white she cat

 **ShadowClan:**

 **Leader:** Rowanstar (ginger tom)

 **Deputy:** Crowfrost (black and white tom)

 **Medicine Cat(s)**

Leafpool: Light brown tabby she cat with white chest and paws, formerly of ThunderClan

 _Apprentice: Puddlepaw (brown tom with white splotches)_

 **Warriors:**

Tawnypelt: tortioseshell she-cat with amber eyes  
 _Apprentice: Needlepaw_

Tigerheart: Sleek brown tabby tom

Apprentice: Sleekpaw

Stonewing: White tom  
Apprentice: Juniperpaw

Wasptail: yellow tabby she-cat with green eyes

Apprentice: Strike paw

Spikefur: dark brown tom with tufty fur on head  
Apprentice: Yarrowpaw

Dawnpelt: cream furred she-cat  
Apprentice: Beepaw

Snowbird: sleek, lithe, well muscled white she cat with blue eyes  
Apprentice:Lionpaw

Scorchfur: dark gray tabby tom with slashed ears, one of which is torn

Apprentice: Birchpaw

Berryheart: black and white she-cat

Cloverfoot: gray tabby she-cat  
Apprentice: Slatepaw

Rippletail: white tom

Sparrowtail: large tabby tom

Mistcloud: Spiky furred pale gray she-cat

Pinenose: black she-cat

 **Queens:**

Grassheart: Pale brown she cat

 **Apprentices:**

Puddlepaw: brown tom with white splotches, training to be a medicine cat

Lionpaw: yellow she-cat with amber eyes

Birchpaw: Beige tom

Slatepaw: sleek, gray tom

Needlepaw: Short furred sleek silver-gray cat with white chest fur and bold green eyes

Sleekpaw: Sleek yellow she-cat

Strikepaw: Dark brown tabby tom

Juniperpaw: sleek black tom

Beepaw: Sleek, plump white she-cat with black ears

Yarrowpaw: Ginger tom with amber eyes

 **Elders:**

Kinkfur: tabby she cat with long fur sticking out at all angles

Ratscar: brown tom with large scar across his back

Oakfur: Small brown tom

 **Cats Outside the Clans:**

Creek: Cinnamon colored tom with long, well muscled back legs

Sand: Pale ginger she-cat with green eyes

 **Facts:**

-I wrote this Fanfic because I thought it would be interesting to show WindClan in a different, positive light and give more attention to background characters and see how everything so far has affected them

-Flightpaw is an Abyssinian cat, known for their cinnamon colored fur, long legs, large ears, and incredibly energy

-Flightpaw is descended from two different Clans, but one is not common knowledge

-Part of why I wrote this was to give Breezepelt some good character development

-I'm making this story up as I go and am very vaguely aware of the overall plot

 **Chapter Seven Preview:**

It was quiet for a long, long moment, before the WindClan cats started cheering Flightpaw's name. Flightpaw felt the fur lay back down on her shoulders. They had pride in their voices and their eyes glittered with anger at the snubbing of their apprentice. Flightpaw sighed in relief-at least WindClan cheered, she figured the absolute silence must have shocked them at first. Beside her, the she-cats she'd talked to had their fur ruffled up to. But the cream she-cat rose up her head to call her name and her daughter and the ThunderClan deputy followed until a few more cats were cheering.

A tom stalked his way to the front-Flightpaw figured he'd been the one to yowl out-and stood at the base of the oak tree, glaring at Onestar. "What is the meaning of this, Onestar? Word had gotten around you'd accepted a rogue kit, but I thought you were better than that!"

Onestar looked coldly down at the tom. "I do not answer to you, Crowfrost, nor should I have to. In almost every sense imaginable, Flightpaw is Heathertail and Breezepelt's kit. She has WindClan blood."

Murmurs broke out over the Gathering until Onestar yowled again for quiet. "You may have realized that our deputy, Harespring, passed a few moons ago. He was found with Flightpaw, then just a quarter-moon old kit, and he died protecting her. She carries his likeness in more ways than one and I without a doubt believe that she is his daughter, with whom does not matter. She is a WindClan cat through and through, regardless of her bloodline." He glanced at Bramblestar. "I think considering the many times other Clans have accepted outsiders-full grown ones at that-accepting a kit with probably WindClan blood, a kit that our deputy gave his life to protect, is no problem. I will not tolerate any disrespect to her, for it disrespects our Clan and our late deputy. She is a worthy apprentice and you should be ashamed that you judge so openly."

"Because WindClan was never known to judge," Flightpaw heard Berrynose hiss and a few other cats joining in. "If we keep accepting outsiders, the Clans will be overrun by kittypets and rogues."

Flightpaw had had enough of the stumpy-tailed tom to last nine lifetimes and she whirled on him, tail lashing. "You were born in the Horseplace," she spat, "And came to the Clans when you were much older than I was. Should we consider _you_ a kittypet or rogue?"

Berrynose unsheathed his claws but was stopped from moving forward by a stern look from Squirrelflight.

Rosepetal stepped forward, "Our mother left her home to give you a better life, are you considering her a worthless kittypet too?" Daisy flashed her daughter a look of relief.

The black tom, Crowfrost, lashed his tail. "It's still not right! It's against the code."

"The code speaks of shunning the life of a kittypet," Breezepelt said, "Well, that's what we're all doing here, unless anyone secretly has Twolegs they go home to at night."

"I was born to parents I don't even know and found in the shadows with Violetpaw. You all said I was special for being born where I was, for being taken into the Clan, that my future was great. But you're judging another cat for the same thing-why? Because she doesn't have a stupid prophecy from some starry sky cats? She's no different than me and you're all fox-hearted mouse-brains if you're dumb enough to think otherwise."

A ginger she cat stepped forward, nodding her head to the little gray apprentice. "Well spoken, Twigpaw."

"This Gathering is over," Onestar called. "I've had enough for one night."

He leapt down from the tree and as if by an unspoken signal, all the WindClan cats followed. Flightpaw glared at the Gathering once and then followed her sister.

"Well, that was a disaster." she muttered.

"The look on Berrynose's face when his sister called him out was great though," Smokepaw purred. "Ah, ever since that border patrol it makes me happy to see him grimace like he has a fire ant in his nest."


	9. Chapter 7: Disappeared

It was quiet for a long, long moment, before the WindClan cats started cheering Flightpaw's name. Flightpaw felt the fur lay back down on her shoulders. They had pride in their voices and their eyes glittered with anger at the snubbing of their apprentice. Flightpaw sighed in relief-at least WindClan cheered, she figured the absolute silence must have shocked them at first. Beside her, the she-cats she'd talked to had their fur ruffled up to. But the cream she-cat rose up her head to call her name and her daughter and the ThunderClan deputy followed until a few more cats were cheering.

A tom stalked his way to the front-Flightpaw figured he'd been the one to yowl out-and stood at the base of the oak tree, glaring at Onestar. "What is the meaning of this, Onestar? Word had gotten around you'd accepted a rogue kit, but I thought you were better than that!"

Onestar looked coldly down at the tom. "I do not answer to you, Crowfrost, nor should I have to. In almost every sense imaginable, Flightpaw is Heathertail and Breezepelt's kit. She has WindClan blood."

Murmurs broke out over the Gathering until Onestar yowled again for quiet. "You may have realized that our deputy, Harespring, passed a few moons ago. He was found with Flightpaw, then just a quarter-moon old kit, and he died protecting her. She carries his likeness in more ways than one and I without a doubt believe that she is his daughter, with whom does not matter. She is a WindClan cat through and through, regardless of her bloodline." He glanced at Bramblestar. "I think considering the many times other Clans have accepted outsiders-full grown ones at that-accepting a kit with probable WindClan blood, a kit that our deputy gave his life to protect, is no problem. I will not tolerate any disrespect to her, for it disrespects our Clan and our late deputy. She is a worthy apprentice and you should be ashamed that you judge so openly."

"Because WindClan was never known to judge," Flightpaw heard Berrynose hiss and a few other cats joining in. "If we keep accepting outsiders, the Clans will be overrun by kittypets and rogues."

Flightpaw had had enough of the stumpy-tailed tom to last nine lifetimes and she whirled on him, tail lashing. "You were born in the Horseplace," she spat, "And came to the Clans when you were much older than I was. Should we consider _you_ a kittypet or rogue?"

Berrynose unsheathed his claws but was stopped from moving forward by a stern look from Squirrelflight.

Rosepetal stepped forward, "Our mother left her home to give you a better life, are you considering her a worthless kittypet too?" Daisy flashed her daughter a look of relief.

The black tom, Crowfrost, lashed his tail. "It's still not right! It's against the code."

"The code speaks of shunning the life of a kittypet," Breezepelt said, "Well, that's what we're all doing here, unless anyone secretly has Twolegs they go home to at night."

"I was born to parents I don't even know and found in the shadows with Violetpaw. You all said I was special for being born where I was, for being taken into the Clan, that my future was great. But you're judging another cat for the same thing-why? Because she doesn't have a stupid prophecy from some starry sky cats? She's no different than me and you're all fox-hearted mouse-brains if you're dumb enough to think otherwise."

A ginger she cat stepped forward, nodding her head to the little gray apprentice. "Well spoken, Twigpaw."

"This Gathering is over," Onestar called. "I've had enough for one night."

He leapt down from the tree and as if by an unspoken signal, all the WindClan cats followed. Flightpaw glared at the Gathering once and then followed her sister.

"Well, that was a disaster." she muttered.

"The look on Berrynose's face when his sister called him out was great though," Smokepaw purred. "Ah, ever since that border patrol it makes me happy to see him grimace like he has a fire ant in his nest."

Flightpaw forced a purr but was otherwise silent as the WindClan cats make it back to camp. she wanted to think she belonged with the Clans, she had no reason to believe otherwise. But now that she'd been to a Gathering, felt the scrutiny the other Clans freely gave her because of her birth, she was wondering if something was wrong with her. She knew that she could be picked out from far away amongst the WindClan cats-she didn't have the gray, brown, or black fur that they normally had. Her legs were much longer and even though she'd been an apprentice for nearly three moons she almost stood as tall as Breezepelt. Her ears were huge too and sometimes she thought they were all everyone ever looked at. Other than the quarter-moon she spent sulking, she hadn't ever really cared about how different she looked. But now...she stood out like a red pelted mouse.

Around her all the Clan cats were going to sleep. She sat down in a tuft of grass and looked up at the stars. Did StarClan think she belonged? If Brindlepaw was to be believed, StarClan abandoned them. Why? Was it because of her? Because of Breezepelt? She couldn't know but she hated the idea that StarClan might've judged her for her birth or didn't realize how different Breezepelt must've been from the angry tom he described himself as.

"Quite a night," a meow made her jump and she turned to hiss at the intruder.

Creek sat a few mousetails away from her, calmly washing behind one ear. He had similar ears to her, she realized, except they have black little tufts at the top. "What do you want?" she growled. She still wasn't sure of what to think of the rogues that had asked to join the Clan. Obviously, she couldn't judge them for their birth but she wondered where exactly they'd heard stories of WindClan. Why not ThunderClan? According to everyone else, that was the famous Clan.

"Nothing, really," he said. "Just making an observation. I heard what happened at the Gathering. I'm sorry you went through that."

Flightpaw shrugged. "WindClan accepts me and that's all that matters."

"They're good cats," Creek agreed. "I hope I can prove my worth to them."

"Where do you come from, anyway?" Flightpaw asked, curiousity prickling at her. "Most cats come here and hear about ThunderClan. Apparently they're oh-so-special when it comes to just about everything."

Creek finished washing his ears and situated himself next to Flightpaw. She noted that his legs were even longer than Breezepelt's and wondered if she'd grow up to be as tall as him. They looked sort of alike. "Well," he said. "I come from a place far away from here where the sun drowns every night."

Flightpaw whipped her head back to look at him, amber eyes widened in alarm. "The sun _drowns_?"

Creek shrugged. "That's what it looks like. Every night it goes down into a big body of water-bigger than your lake and salty too-but every morning it rising again."

"How do you know it'll keep rising?" Flightpaw asked. "What if the water just decides not to let it go?"

"We don't know," Creek said. "But still, it rises every morning. We don't know a lot of things but we still believe in them. It's called having faith. And I've learned a long time ago that if nothing else, you should have faith in yourself."

"I have faith in myself," Flightpaw said defensively. "Besides I didn't ask you for a lesson. I asked you how you knew of WindClan."

Creek's eyes glittered. "I guess you'll have to keep wondering. Goodnight, Flightpaw." The tom prowled back to the makeshift den where he and Sand were sleeping until Onestar decided whether to let them fully join.

Flightpaw growled. "Arrogant furball." She cast her gaze to the stars one last time before heading to where her sisters slept. Now that it was new leaf and warmer most of the WindClan cats slept under the stars. She curled up next to them, pressing her pelt against theirs and fell asleep.

#####

Flightpaw was not especially pleased the next morning when Creek decided to tag along to her and Smokepaw's battle training. Part of her was still smarting after last night, though she wasn't exactly sure why the cinnamon colored tom irritated her so. She listened with half a mind as Emberfoot explained the practice bout-the usual, claws sheathed, winner pins loser, etc. etc.-and then got into the sandy dip they used as a practicing area, ready to face off against Smokepaw.

"I'm totally going to beat you!" her sister crowed with confidence.

Flightpaw said nothing, only lunged and bowled her sister over. The two she-cats scuffled, nipping and swiping, biting each other with gentle force. Dust from the sand rose in the air and from a ways away she heard Emberfoot sneeze. Smokepaw had managed to get on top of her as Flightpaw wriggled on her back, bringing her hind legs underneath her sister's belly and then kicking out. Like with Emberfoot before her, Smokepaw flew backward, panting. "Ouch." She muttered. "That hurt."

Sedgewhisker eyed Emberfoot. "That's an interesting alternative to the belly rake."

"Trust me, I tried. I think this is perhaps more effective." Emberfoot muttered. "I still am sore from last time."

Flightpaw nudged her sister. "Sorry, I don't know my own strength sometimes." Smokepaw rolled her eyes but let Flightpaw help her up. She waved her tail over her sister's shoulders to show that all was well.

"If I might add something...?" Creek asked from where he was sitting.

"Yes?" Sedgewhisker asked.

"I noticed Flightpaw and I have a similar build." Creek said, driving the point home as he stretched his long legs. "Perhaps I can teach her some things I've learned? I'm sure you probably went over them, but just in case?"

Flightpaw looked at Emberfoot, eyes begging him to say no. But Emberfoot looked relieved. "I think that would be a great idea."

Flightpaw groaned and Emberfoot shot her a look as to say _'what in StarClan has gotten into you?'._

So, with much reluctance, Flightpaw got back in the sand, this time facing Creek. They circled each other for a moment gauging each other's strength. His legs-both his hind and front legs-looked so strong and before she knew it, he'd taken a huge leap until he sprang right over her and skidded until he was facing her again. He swiped with a sheathed paw and Flightpaw ducked, trying to run underneath him. However, she got halfway through before Creek rolled and she, trapped in his long legs, came tumble with him. She sat up in the dust, panting.

"You have long legs. Your back legs especially are strong. If you wanted to you could leap over your opponent and surprise them. You could use trees to rebound off of. If you're fast enough, your opponent won't have time to think before you strike. If they try to race past under you you can trap them." Creek explained.

Flightpaw huffed, shaking the sand from her pelt. She bunched up the muscles in her back legs and was about to spring before Creek knocked her off her back paws. She sprawled sideways into the sand.

"Too slow," the tom said. "Don't gather your muscles. It takes too long and you're strong enough to do so without it. Use your whole body to leap in the same way you use your whole body to run."

Flightpaw's fur bristled and she spat more sand out but tried again, this time succeeding in leaping over Creek. When she landed, the force of her leap kept her paws moving and she skidded around like he had until she was facing him again. Creek had already turned and was ready with a counterblow. Instead of ducking, she rose up on her hindpaws as Creek was thrown off balance and pushed forward into the tom, sending him backwards.

Creek's green eyes gleamed. "Good."

They continued until both their pelts were covered in dust, the mentors and her sister watching with wide eyes. At the end, Flightpaw's legs felt like she'd just gone on a long run and she struggled not to wobble. Emberfoot helped her until she steadied herself. She didn't miss that he was talking animatedly to Creek as he did so.

Smokepaw came up beside her. "Wow, I've never seen a flying cat before!"

Flightpaw snorted. "What?"

"You two looked like you were flying! You were doing so many leaps and spending so much time on your hindlegs. It was amazing!"

"It's certainly a new type of fighting style," Sedgewhisker commented. "One that does seem beneficial to your body type."

The group padded back to the camp right as the hunting patrol came back. Flightpaw noticed that the pale ginger she-cat, Sand, was with them, a hare in her jaws. The hunting patrol in general had down well, with two hares, two rabbits, and a few mice and squirrels from the wooded area of their territory. The Clan would definitely eat well tonight.

"Creek!" Sand called, voice muffled with her hare. "You look like _you_ should be called sand!"

Creek snorted. "Just teaching Flightpaw some tricks."

"Well, it looks like you both taught each other something!" Sand looked eagerly at Flightpaw.

She snorted and headed into camp, feeling the need to wash all the grit from her fur. It would take forever.

####

Brindlepaw sat miserably in the medicine den, going through their herb stock once again. She wasn't sure why she felt so bad or guilty, just that she did. Another half-moon had gone by with no sign or word from StarClan and she was beginning to think WindClan _was_ cursed, that perhaps their crimes were too great for them to ever fix.

Kestrelflight had gone out before dawn to collect more marigold and tansy now that the flowers were beginning to bloom and Brindlepaw was stuck with the boring-yet-essential task of going through the herb storage and finding all the herbs too old to use. She sneezed as she pulled out a dried bit of yarrow from the back of the den. It was in between a crevice in a large rock and led down under the ground into a little cave. She wasn't sure how many cats knew how deep the cave went-even she herself hadn't explored to the darkest corners. But she went down deeper and deeper as she searched for leaves or anything else unusable by time.

"You know," a cat meowed. "You'll find a lot more interesting things if you go down the tunnels."

Brindlepaw turned, fur bristling. That didn't sound like an cat she knew.

A white tom sat a little ways away from her, grooming his tufty fur. She noticed a long pink scar that went across his entire body. "Who are you?"

"A medicine cat, like yourself." he said.

Brindlepaw remained skeptical. "A medicine cat wouldn't have that type of scar."

The white tom's ears twitched. "Oh, says who?"

"Well..." she trailed off, "We're not supposed to fight. So why would you have such a bad scar?"

"Sometimes the path we walk isn't the straightest. I was originally a warrior until I got that scar. Then I realized I could defend my clan in different ways. WindClan has always been looked down on. I made sure that we wouldn't be, for a time, at least."

Brindlepaw stepped forward. "What do you mean? What can I find down in the tunnels?"

"Answers," the tom said. "To all you want to know."

"Are you from StarClan?" she asked.

"I am your ancestor," the tom bowed his head. "My name is Snowtuft."

"I'm Brindlepaw."

"Well, Brindlepaw," Snowtuft said, "Follow me." The medicine cat apprentice followed the dead warrior-turned-medicine cat down into the tunnels, eager to know what awaited her.

####

It was more than a moon after Brindlepaw had went missing and the Clan had been beside themselves with worry. Kestrelflight ventured as far down as he would dare into the WindClan medicine den and Onestar organized patrols that searched the territory up and down. No other Clans had mentioned her at the Gatherings and no cat had any idea where she'd gone. There was no smell, no trace to follow. It was almost like the she-cat had disappeared out of thin air.

Breezepelt was beside himself, blaming himself for the whole thing. If only he hadn't fought with the Dark Forest, if only he'd never told her the truth about his past. His dreams were filled with cats screeching in pain in the darkness and shadowy forests that he wandered yowling his daughter's name. He heard the whisperings of cats in the shadows but couldn't tell what they were saying or what they wanted.

Too soon, Clan life went on. Redkit, Duskkit, and Rabbitkit had been apprenticed. Redpaw to Furzepelt, Rabbitpaw to Heathertail, and Redpaw to the newly named Creekrunner. His companion had gotten the name Sandberry, both cats accepted fully into WindClan. Flightpaw found the apprentices den was noisy with the new additions and found herself sleeping outside more and more as the weather turned to Green-Leaf. Fernshadow had moved into the nursery with Crowfeather's kits, causing gossip to run in the Clan. Nightcloud, Crowfeather's first 'mate' and Breezepelt's mother had retired to the elders den after hearing the news. Flightpaw didn't blame her, Crowfeather had to be more than three times Fernshadow's age and she knew the nature of Nightcloud and Crowfeather's relationship. When she asked Breezepelt-rather stupidly-how he felt about having new siblings, the dark tom just sighed and muttered that the kits couldn't be blamed for this father's foolish nature. Gorsetail also moved into the nursery, expecting Slightfoot's kits, and Flightpaw noticed Oatclaw around Smokepaw more and more though Smokepaw herself seemed oblivious to the tom.

There were talks of perhaps one of Crowfeather's or Slightfoot's kits would take Brindlepaw's place and the Clan had held a vigil for the missing apprentice a few nights ago. But Flightpaw wouldn't believe she was missing. She hissed at Kestrelflight when he suggested it. Sometimes it seemed as if Smokepaw, Breezepelt, and Heathertail were the only other ones who even remembered Brindlepaw.

One lonely green-leaf night Flightpaw decided she had enough. She was going to find her sister, whatever the consequences. As she snuck out of camp that night, she paused, hearing familar pawsteps behind her.

"What do you want, Creekrunner?" she asked.

The tom flicked his ear. "Where are you going?"

Flightpaw supposed she could lie. But where was the honor in that? "I'm going to find Brindlepaw. Everyone else might've forgotten about her but _I didn't_."

Creekrunner nodded. "Well, then I guess I'll come with you."

Flightpaw mrowwed in shock. " _Why_?"

"Why not?"

Flightpaw growled under her breath, but she had to admit that Creekrunner was capable and a good warrior. Having him with her might help. "Fine, but don't get in my way."

Creekrunner held back a purr. "I'm sure you'd step right over me anyway."

Flightpaw pinned her ears but continued forward. She _would_ find her sister, no matter what.

 **AN: Sorry for all the time skips, but I wanted the characters to be a bit older and I didn't want to write just day-by-day chapters. So for anyone confused about the timeline:**

 **Flightkit was found near the middle of Leaf-Fall.**

 **Flightpaw, Brindlepaw, and Smokepaw were apprenticed at the very end of Leaf-Bare. Redkit, Morningkit, Rabbitkit, and Duskkit were born a bit before then.**

 **Morningkit and Redkit went missing when Flightpaw was seven and a half moons old; near the beginning of New-Leaf.**

 **Flightpaw's first Gathering was when she was eight moons old. New-Leaf.**

 **Brindlepaw went missing right after in New-Leaf.**

 **Fernshadow and Gorsetail went into the nursery near the end of New-Leaf.**

 **Flightpaw set out to find Brindlepaw with Creekrunner near end of Newleaf. She is now ten moons old. It's been three moons since Brindlepaw vanished.**

 **QUESTIONS OF THE DAY:**

 **1\. What do you think of Creekrunner?**

 **2\. Should Flightpaw get a mate? If so, who?**

 **3\. Who is surprised by Crowfeather's tom-whore ways? No one?**

 **4\. Where do you think Brindlepaw is?**

 **5\. If you had to choose, what would Flightpaw, Brindlepaw, Smokepaw, Redpaw, Duskpaw, and Rabbitpaw's warrior/Med Cat names be?**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and didn't mind the massive time skips. I finally figured out where I want to go with this and hopefully will be able to steer this fic in the best direction soon. Tell me what you think!**


	10. Chapter 8: Kin

**AN: Wow! I totally forgot about this story! Sorry for not updating guys. Won't blame y'all if you forgot about it, lol. Anyway, here is chapter Eight.**

Flightpaw's hackles were raised as she raced through WindClan's territory. She wasn't very keen on having Creekrunner follower her but it seemed like she wasn't going to lose him. She had to admit, he was a decent enough warrior, even if he made her want to pull her fur out and she would probably find it easier to find Brindlepaw if she wasn't alone. But she wasn't going to say it out loud to him. It would only make him more insufferable.

"So where to?" he asked.

Flightpaw huffed. She guess she did have to _talk to him._ "The border between ThunderClan and WindClan. Near where the tunnel entrance is. Kestrelflight says he went down the tunnel in his den as far as he was able to but I have a hunch that if we go down another, we could find her. Maybe she got lost." She didn't say what was making her belly churn. If she _did_ get lost she probably wouldn't be alive. It'd been moons and Brindlepaw was a medicine cat. She didn't know how to hunt or fight. If she was lucky Flightpaw _might_ find her body. But due to everything, Flightpaw was beginning not to believe in luck.

Creekrunner pressed his nose to her ear. "Hey, don't worry. You might be going through your own drama right now, but you and your sisters are the fiercest apprentices I know. If any cat could survive, it's you three."

Flightpaw shook her head, spotting the border to the two Clans up ahead. She shuddered, she hated the idea of going back into the trees and undergrowth where she felt like she was being choked alive. But she had to. "I just...I want to know why StarClan is punishing us. Why aren't they speaking to us? Why are they cutting off Onestar and Kestrelflight and Brindlepaw? We haven't done anything!" _Or, well, most of us._ But Breezepelt had clearly atoned for his crimes. She trusted her father when he said that and she believed he was a changed cat. But maybe StarClan didn't agree.

"What if it's not StarClan?" Creekrunner mewed, a thoughtful look in his eyes. "What if it's the Dark Forest."

"Do you even _believe_ in StarClan and the Dark Forest?" She muttered sourly. He had a point. She remembered when Redpaw and Morningkit had been lost. The cats the surviving kid described sounded like a Dark Forest warrior to Breezepelt. But they'd beaten the Dark Forest. Surely they had no influence here anymore. Right?

Creekrunner rolled his eyes and launched himself across the border river in one full jump. The cat may have not had any warrior blood but he could _leap_ like a cat of LeopardClan. She followed suit, enjoying the power that filled her backlegs and she sprang forward across the river. Her back paws barely brushed the side of the bank as she landed.

"I'm a Clan cat, aren't I?" he said, brushing a paw over his ear.

"You weren't always." Obviously.

"Well, you might be surprised at what I believe." Creekrunner said. "Come on, show me the tunnels."

Flightpaw muttered something incoherent under her breath but obliged, racing toward where she remembered Redpaw being.

Brindlepaw didn't know how she got where she was. All she knew was it was dark and cold, her pelt was wet and she was hungry, but no prey or sunlight dotted the shadowy landscape. She could barely move. She wasn't sure how long it'd been and sometimes she swore she could see her body-her real body-curled up on the flat stone of the underground tunnels. But she couldn't reach it from the shadowy forest. It wasn't like how Kestrelflight described visiting StarClan-when StarClan had talked to them in the first place that was. He'd said you came out of your body to run with the stars, sometimes you could see yourself sleeping, but you always were able to re-enter your sleeping form and wake without trouble. Brindlepaw couldn't enter her sleeping form no matter how hard she tried and the forest was just getting darker and darker.

She wasn't an idiot, she knew where she was even if she wasn't completely sure _how_ she got there. _The Place of No Stars._ The name made her shiver. But the cats there weren't trying to train her. No, they weren't building up another army. They wanted something else.

"Have you considered my offer?" The voice of Snowtuft had her turning in a flash, soggy fur fluffed up in defiance.

"I have and I'll give you the same answer as I did last time. _No._ " Brindlepaw hissed. Her father might've fought for these scumbags once but she _knew_ now his allegiance to them was no longer there. That's what the cats wanted. "You're not going to bother my father anymore. You're not going to corrupt him."

Snowtuft chuckled an flicked her ear with his bushy white tail, almost fondly. "Brave little medicine cat apprentice. Your Clan is cut off from StarClan because of him, yet you still defend him. Loyalty runs deep." He unsheathed his claws and made furrows in the dirt. "Too bad you aren't a warrior. But I guess you were the easiest to reach anyways. So much easier to deal with cats whose faith wavers."

"Well, my faith isn't wavering now." Brindlepaw held back the urge to begin washing her ear obsessively where the Dark Forest tom had touched it. "And it's _you_ who cut off the Clan from StarClan. I'm not dumb! I've been listening! You want him to return to your side because he's got it in him to be the next leader. You want a WindClan leader _loyal to the Dark Forest._ Because if we believe it's StarClan, we'll resent them, won't we?" She was practically snarling at this point, her own claws raking furrows in the mud.

"Smart one, aren't you?" Snowtuft said, passing her. "Well, tell me if you change your mind. Or not. I'll be back anyway. Maybe _you're_ strong enough but sooner or later, when your Clan finally realizes they no longer can speak to StarClan they'll start to lose their own strength. How many lives does Onestar have left now? Three? Two? It'll be a shame if he dies and Sedgewhisker doesn't get her nine lives, won't it? And if she dies, she _does_ only have a single life after all, sooner or later the cat journeying to the Moonpool will be your father. And we'll have him then, anyway."

"He'll say no." Brindlepaw growled. "He's different now."

"Oh," Snowtuft ran a paw across his ear. "I'm sure he is. But his daughter's life is at stake. That can make any cat do terrible things. I would know. It's astonishingly easy to get away with having kits if you're a tom medicine cat. The she-cats always are the ones who take the fall. I killed for my daughters, many, many times. I'm sure if it came to it, your father would do the same." The white tom ran off then, leaving Brindlepaw shivering in the Darkness.

Smokepaw sat staring at the sunset. It'd been a quarter moon since Flightpaw and Creekrunner ran off. They got their trace as far as the border between WindClan and ThunderClan before it disappeared. She was beginning to think that her family was going to fall apart, no matter what her parents told her.

A cat came up to her, his smoky pelt blending in with the coming darkness. "Have faith, Smokepaw."

Smokepaw looked up at her father. "Why is everything falling apart?"

Her father rested his tail on her shoulder. "I don't know. But every darkness has a dawn. They'll come back. They all will."

"I hope you're right," she murmured to herself. "I'm going to go see Gorsetail's and Fernshadow's kits, do you want to come?" The two queens had given birth just days after each other, with them came the beginning of Green-Leaf. She was glad there was plenty of prey to fill the Clan's new hungry mouths, though she was worried about how dry the air was. Sedgewhisker said she shouldn't worry-they were nowhere near the conditions of the drought the Clans faced when she journeyed to free the water. She supposed it would rain sooner or later.

Breezepelt shook his head. "I've already seen them." His amber eyes were guarded.

"Are you upset about your father?" Smokepaw asked.

"No," he mewed. "I'm just hoping he realizes what Nightcloud is going through. He never deserved her. I'm going to go visit her in the elder's den."

Smokepaw nodded and headed off to the nursery, taking a hare off the fresh-kill pile as she went. It reminded her of the training session she and Flightpaw had spent with Creekrunner-then Creek. The two of them looked like dancing hares as they battled. At least if they were together, they would be a formidable pair to fight against. Flightpaw's style of fighting had only gotten better. _Poor Emberfoot's belly must be crying out in relief._

She ducked into the den. "Hello," she mewed to the two nursing queens. Gorsetail blinked kindly up at her and Fernshadow ran her tongue over her kits as they slept. "You two must be hungry." She dropped the hare in front of them.

"Thank you," Fernshadow said. "Hey," she nosed her kits. "Tell your cousin thank you."

Fernshadow's two kits looked up at her. Mistkit was a light gray she-kit with a feathery tail, her brother, Sootkit was nearly black with amber eyes, an almost exact copy of their father. Thankfully they had none of their father-and her grandfather's-personality.

"Thank you!" Sootkit mewed, nudging his sleeping sister.

"mmhhhh what?" Mistkit said, rolling over.

"Smokepaw brought us food! Say thanks!"

"Thank you, Smokepaw." The she-kit murmured, curling back into a ball.

Sootkit huffed. "I swear, all she does is sleep."

"Sleeping will help her grow big," Smokepaw said. "Soon she'll be bigger than you and you'll never catch up because once you become an apprentice you don't get any sleep!"

The little tomkit's tail stuck up in horror. "No way!" He turned to Gorsetail's kit, Fennelkit, and nudged him with a paw. "Did you know if we don't sleep enough we won't grow?"

"Why are you waking me up?" Fennelkit muttered.

Smokepaw mrrowed with laughter. Some things-like kits-never changed.

"Good night you guys," she said, clamoring out of the nursery. To her surprise, Oatclaw sat outside, purring.

"You're pretty good with those kits," he mewed.

Smokepaw ran a paw over her head, her fur feeling slightly hot. "Thank you." Since her sister had disappeared, she found herself spending a lot more time with the warrior. She liked him. He was funny and brave and made her cheer up in a way no other cat could. She'd never thought about it before, but she was older now, and one day she did want to have kits. Oatclaw wouldn't be a bad mate. Not at all.

 _But I want my sisters to be here to see them._

"Sedgewhisker wants to talk to you," Oatclaw said and Smokepaw nodded. She had a feeling she knew what it was going to be about.

She found her mentor near Onestar's den and the two of them were called in to enter. Onestar sat, his fur looking slightly frazzled. He was getting old, she knew. He'd been a warrior at the same time as Mistystar and _she_ was ancient. "Yes, Onestar?"

"I know you're still grieving for your sisters," Onestar started and swept his tail to cover her mouth when she began to protest. "I know grieving implies that they are dead and I know you don't believe they are. I hope the same. But the matter is that life goes on."

Smokepaw nodded. "I understand, Onestar."

"We wanted to let you know if it all goes well, we'll be holding your assessment at sunhigh tomorrow." Sedgewhisker said.

Smokepaw's body quivered in excitement. Her _assessment!_ But it soon left her. She should be having it with Flightpaw. "Alright." she said. "I'll do my best."

She headed out of the den and looked at the sky, where a single star with a reddish tint twinkled. _Please let them come home soon._

Flightpaw wasn't going to admit it, but she felt hopelessly lost. She and Creekrunner had tracked through the tunnels for days. Sometimes she swore she could smell her sister's scent but it always ended up with nothing. Her eyes had gotten used to the darkness though and she had found the river in the main cave where she was able to occasionally find and catch little eyeless fish. So, at least she and Creekrunner weren't starving. Creekrunner was a much better fisher than she was-probably due to him being a rogue in the past-but she wasn't going to complain about not starving to death.

Her faith was slowly fading after all this time and she cried out in anguish when she hit another dead end. This place had been a tunnel, but it looked like the opening had caved in, maybe many moons ago, and there was nothing but a tuft of stale fur now. It wasn't even mottled brown, so she couldn't say it was Brindlepaw's.

Creekrunner sat by her side and for once she didn't shrug off his tail when it pressed against her shoulder.

She turned around sullenly, trying to retrace her steps but froze when she thought she saw a flash of green eyes. But there wasn't any other cat down there...was there? "I'll meet you back in the main cave," she said. "I need to be alone." At least she knew enough of the tunnel's system to head out alone without dying.

Creekrunner nodded and took off, trusting her words.

The green eyes flashed again. "I thought he would never leave your side." There was a snort. "It wouldn't have done you any good if he saw you talking to air."

Flightpaw froze, terror filling her as the voice of a she-cat echoed in the tunnel. "W-who are you? Am-am I the only one who can _see_ you?"

"Of course," the she-cat spoke. "I mean, I guess he could if he really believed in StarClan, but I'm already using up too much energy to get _you_ to see me, let alone another cat."

"W-who are you? Are you from StarClan? Why can't we contact you?" The questions spilled out of her mouth.

The green eyes gleamed. "I am from StarClan. We're currently cut off from WindClan. The Dark Forest made sure of that." She hissed. "Code-breaking crowfood eaters. But they don't have as much control down here in the tunnels and well, I know someone who does." Her voice softened and she purred. "Very well, I'd like to say. As for who I am, well, I'm your kin. My name is Hollyleaf. And I can help you find your sister."

 **AN: BAM. There you go.**

 **Questions for the readers as always:**

 **1\. Who expected Hollyleaf?**

 **2\. What do you think Smokepaw's Warrior Name will be? We won't see her ceremony (sorry guys) so you'll learn it when Flightpaw learns it!**

 **3\. So, we're coming near to the end of the story, at least in my head. I do plan for there to be a sequel of sorts, though.**

 **4\. What did you think of this chapter?**


	11. Chapter 9: Rescue

Redemption: Chapter Nine

Flightpaw froze in surprise. _Hollyleaf?_ As in _The Hollyleaf?_ "Why aren't you in StarClan?" She blurted the words out before she could stop herself.

The starry-pelted black she-cat shrugged. "I divide my time between there and here. So I can be with Fallen Leaves. When WindClan became blocked from StarClan by the Dark Forest, I found it was easier to communicate with others if I was in the tunnel. Except not everyone goes in the tunnels now." She shook her head. "Well, you're here now, which is what counts."

Flightpaw's heart soared with hope before a realization came crashing down on her. "Why do you want to help me? Breezepelt was awful to you, he was happy you died. And I'm-I'm not even his kin, not really."

Hollyleaf drew a paw over her ears. "Well, one, because it's the right thing to do. And two, because I can tell a cat's trying for redemption better than you can catch a rabbit. Besides, you were raised by him and Heathertail, they might not be your biological parents but they are your kin in a sense. And thus you are mine." She shook herself. "Now do you want to get your sister or not?"

"Yes, please! Let's go!" Flightpaw meowed, hope soaring inside of her once again. They would find Brindlepaw. She only hoped she would be alive and somewhat well when they did so. Flightpaw watched as Hollyleaf took off down a series of twists and turns and she followed right on her tail. It was easy to see she had WindClan heritage with the way she ran-even if she hadn't been the spitting image of her half-brother and father-and Flightpaw felt strangely comforted by the fact that the Half-Clan cat fit so well in both worlds. If Hollyleaf could accept her blood and the good and bad that came with it, so could she, whenever the truth about her real parents came out. If it ever did.

She knew the rumors was that she was the late deputy's daughter with a rogue. She knew she looked like him, but unless she ever saw him in StarClan, she doubted she would ever figure it out. It bothered her slightly, like a tough piece of fresh-kill in her throat. Heathertail and Breezepelt were for all intents and purposes, her kin. But she wished sometimes in the dark nights she could figure out who exactly had given birth to her and why Harespring allegedly died for her.

Lost in her thoughts, she almost slammed into a wall at which Hollyleaf hissed "Careful!" She shook herself and followed the black she-cat as the tunnels dipped downward until she couldn't smell the fresh earth above. Part of her worried about Creekrunner, what would he do if she didn't come back soon? But the other part of her rationalized that he was a warrior and he could handle himself fine on his own. And so coul she.

"Come on," Hollyleaf said, nose pointing to what looked like a dead end. "In here."

Flightpaw's tail twitched. "That's a dead end though."

"Do you trust me?" Hollyleaf's green eyes glimmered.

"Yes," Flightpaw said.

"The trust me. Run straight through it, I'll do it with you. You have to have faith."

Flightpaw didn't exactly like the idea of running straight into the tunnel wall but Hollyleaf looked like she knew what she was doing. Flightpaw hoped so because she really didn't want to have a flattened muzzle. Taking a deep breath, she launched herself across the ground and straight at the wall, using her powerful hindlegs to ensure she couldn't stop even if she wanted to. And to her surprise, she found herself not hitting the stone head-first but slipping through it like it was water.

And on the other side...oh, on the other side there was her sister. The brindle-coated medicine cat apprentice was skin and bones and her fur was wet and messy, but her chest rose up and down in steady breaths as if she was only asleep. Flightpaw raced across to her, nudging her with her nose. Her body was so cold. "Brindlepaw!" She cried. "Brindlepaw, wake up!"

Hollyleaf bowed her head. "She won't wake up. The Dark Forest is keeping her spirit hostage."

Flightpaw pinned her ears back. " _Why_?" she hissed. "What has _she_ done?"

"Nothing," Hollyleaf said. "The Dark Forest were so sure that Breezepelt would become the new leader both here and in the Dark Forest. But they underestimated the type of change love can do to a person. They underestimated the power of it. So now they're trying to use it against him and force him to work with them. They've probably stalked his dreams more than once, already."

Flightpaw hissed. "Breezepelt would never go back to them!"

"He might, if the other option is his daughter dying." Hollyleaf said. "The things we do for love are sometimes not honorable."

"Will it hurt Brindlepaw to move her body?" Flightpaw asked. When Hollyleaf shook her head Flightpaw approached her sister and slide her unconscious body until she was supported by her back. Only then had she realized how big she had grown. With her legs stretched to full high, she was almost taller than Hollyleaf. "Now we go back the way we came?"

Hollyleaf nodded. "I'll show you the way back to your friend."

The two of them dashed through the tunnels once more, Flightpaw's feet barely skimming the ground. They had their sister. She would soon be free, she knew it.

Breezepelt sat by the newly named Smokeflower, his eyes were shining with pride for his daughter but his heart was breaking as well. Flightpaw and Brindlepaw should've been here too. It hurt even worse knowing it was his fault. They came to him in his dreams, at least once every half-moon and taunted him. They held his daughter just out of reach and demanded he do as they said to get her back safely. Breezepelt's fur ruffled at the idea of ever following the Dark Forest again. He made the mistake once and paid for it dearly. But when it came down to it, his daughter mattered to him more than his morals. Let the Dark Forest take him for all he cared, they could rip the life from his body, as long as Brindlepaw was unharmed. But that wasn't all they wanted, not really.

He could see the sadness in Smokeflower's eyes too, though she didn't speak. Technically she was supposed to do her vigil alone but not even Onestar objected to him being with his daughter. Heathertail would have been with him if she wasn't in the elder's den, looking after Whitetail and Nightcloud. Both she-cats were suffering from the dry spell that seemed to plague the lake. The last time he saw the grass this yellow was in the beginning of the Great Drought. Though he hoped it was just due to the lack of rain and not anything sinister like the last time.

Something appeared in the distance and immediately he sat up, ears swiveling in alarm. Smokeflower noticed too and unsheathed her claws as the two figures-now obviously cats-raced toward the camp entrance. Smokeflower yowled an alarm and he was about to spring before the sight of large ears with black tufts caught his eye and his mouth dropped open.

Flightpaw stood as tall as he did now, wiry and muscular, with the body of Brindlepaw resting on her back. Creekrunner was beside her, making sure that his kit didn't fall off. For one terrible second Breezepelt thought she was dead. But then he saw the slight rise and fall of her chest and relief filled him like cold water on a hot Green-Leaf day.

"How?"

"I'll explain later, she needs to see Kestrelflight." Flightpaw bounded into camp without another word. The other cats were coming out of their dens, having heard Smokeflower's yowl but as soon as they saw who it was, their growls turned to purrs and shouts of joy. Flightpaw ignored all of them, heading into Kestrelflight's den with Brindlepaw.

Smokeflower's eyes were glowing. "You were right," she whispered. "They did come back."

Onestar climbed up on the TallRock, yowling his customary call as cats gathered around. "I know it's late," he started. "But since we're all up anyway, I guess it doesn't matter. What matters is three of our own have returned to us. Flightpaw and Creekrunner set out and found Brindlepaw. Though they did so without my leave and permission, I will not punish them, as they have returned a long-grieved cat to our Clan. Brindlepaw is unconscious, but is being stabilized by Kresteflight and is alive." He jumped down from the rock and came over to where Breezepelt and Smokeflower sat. "I give you permission to speak," he nodded at the dark grey she-cat.

Smokeflower trilled a thank you and ran off to see her siblings. But a bad feeling was growing in Breezepelt's belly as he watched two of his daughters rub their heads against another and lick each other's ears in greeting, purring. Flightpaw had said she would explain to him later and he had a pretty good idea of what she would say when she did.

The cinnamon colored she-cat trotted over to her father. "We need to talk."

"I know," he said and started out of camp. She followed without hesitation.

"I found her in the tunnels. Hollyleaf showed me where she was."

" _Hollyleaf_?" He couldn't have imagined her being the savior of his daughters in his wildest dreams. Which, made sense, it wasn't as if he was anything other than terrible when she was alive...and then there was the Great Battle.

"Yes, she said it was her duty to help her kin and something about knowing when a cat's redeemed herself," Flightpaw said. "Anyway, she said StarClan is being cut off by the Dark Forest because they...they..." the she-cat didn't seem to know how to break the news to him. But he already knew.

"They want me to go back to them, become their new leader, and they're willing to do anything to get what they want." Breezepelt said.

Flightpaw nodded. "Yes."

Breezepelt let out a soft growl and unsheathed his claws. "Well, let them try."


	12. Chapter 10: Changes

**AN: Hi guys! It's been a while! I hope you're still enjoying this fanfic! Warriors: Redemption, will be wrapping up soon, but not to worry! There will be a sequel that deals with a lot of other stuff that isn't answered in this book! And it'll be less WindClan-centric.**

A cold nose prodded Flightpaw from where she'd been sleeping. She groaned and rolled over, surprised to feel the warm moss and wool nest under her instead of the cold stone of the tunnels. Light filtered in from the top of the den and she squinted, confused at first, before she saw the three other nests beside her that smelled distinctly of Redpaw, Duskpaw, and Rabbitpaw.

Breezepelt's amber eyes met her and she squeaked. "StarClan, it's sunhigh already! Why didn't you wake me?"

Her father's whiskers twitched in amusement. "You were dead on your paws. Come, Onestar wants to make an official announcement since most of the cats were half asleep for the first one."

"Is Brindlepaw...?" Flightpaw trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"Still unconscious, but stable and much better than she was." He swiped his tongue around his daughter's ear as she came out of the apprentices den. "You did a good job finding her."

"What if the Dark Forest doesn't let her go?" Flightpaw mewed, trembling. "Will Onestar tell the Clan what's going on with her?"

Breezepelt shook his head. "Kestrelflight and Onestar have both agreed to keep the...issue...with the Dark Forest a secret from now." He claws dug furrows into the earth. "We'll have to deal with it eventually, one way or another, but bringing it up to the entire Clan may cause more panic than it's worth."

"It's not your fault, you know," Flightpaw said, sensing the obvious distress coming from her father. "You couldn't have predicted they would do something so low."

Breezepelt's ears flattered against his head. "I should have. Out of everyone I should have known. But I didn't. And now we're all suffering for it."

Flightpaw wished there was something she could say to make her father feel better but she couldn't think of any words that wouldn't be able to be twisted around into something negative. It depressed her. She had long gotten over her father's past but she had a feeling a few cats in WindClan wouldn't be so easy to forgive anymore if they knew he was the reason for the troubles as of late. She just hoped Kestrelflight didn't do anything stupid and mention it to someone-the mottled brown medicine cat had never seemed to like her father. She guessed she could understand why. Almost.

"Let all cats old enough to run with the wind join here among the Tallrock for a Clan Meeting!" Onestar's familiar cry rang out and Flightpaw headed oer to where the cats were gathering, bumping her head against her father's shoulder as she went.

She settled next to the newly-named Smokeflower. Her sister had grown considerably since she'd left, but Flightpaw still found herself taller than her. Her legs were so gangly and long still even compared to the grown warriors. She was near Creekrunner's height now and if she grew any taller she was going to go to Kestrelflight and request a herb to stop it. She doubted one existed but she already felt freakish enough with her ears. No need to add legs into the mix.

"Hey," she mewed softly toward her sister.

Smokeflower purred. "I thought you left me forever."

"I would never do that." Flightpaw said. "But I had to try."

"And I'm glad you did."

Flightpaw watched as Onestar launched himself up on the Tallrock, scrambling for a bit before he managed to get a hold. His legs shook and even though it was well into New-Leaf, almost Green-Leaf now, his pelt draped over his bones like a blanket. She knew he was an old cat, but she never thought of the possibility of him dying, not until she remembered the Dark Forest's plot. It made more sense now. Onestar must have only had a few lives left-if even-and she'd once heard Brindlepaw say it wasn't uncommon for older cats to lose them one by one to old age. Even StarClan couldn't make a cat live forever.

"Some of you know why I am gathering you for this meeting," Onestar began, "But to those who don't; Flightpaw and Creekrunner returned late last night with Brindlepaw. They mentioned that they found her in the tunnels, unconscious and weak. For those of you who don't know, in the medicine den there is a tunnel leading down into the underground system. However, we originally thought there was a dead end. That doesn't seem to be the case. This is a reminder to all of us that the tunnels are dangerous to the untrained cat. With that being said, I have made the decision for tunnel-training to be added to the apprentice list of skills. We can't do anything about them being there, other than protecting ourselves in the case the worst happens."

Murmuring broke out among the cats. Flightpaw's ear twitched, she didn't think it was a half-bad idea. At least, she and Creekrunner managed to adjust to the tunnels and it was a good enough excuse to why Brindlepaw had been lured down and trapped.

"Oatclaw told me that seasons ago, before the Great Battle WindClan fought ThunderClan in the tunnels and lost terribly. ThunderClan had all this training and we weren't prepared. Having training will be good." Smokeflower said, a bit of a purr in her tone at the mention of Oatclaw.

"Oatclaw, eh?" Flightpaw flicked her sister with her tail teasingly. "Already settling down with a mate?"

"Oh, don't give me that. It's not like we haven't noticed Creekrunner looking all moony at you since you hit nine moons old. If you were a warrior, he would surely ask for you to be his mate." Smokeflower purred at the look on Flightpaw's face. "Seriously Flightpaw, is your head full of bees?"

"Creekrunner doesn't like me," Flightpaw muttered, but only received a laugh from her sister.

"I'm going to check on Brindlepaw," she said, scampering off, heat under her pelt.

In the medicine den, Kestrelflight was muttering to himself about something while looking over piles of herbs. It was too low for her to hear-which was always a shock since she seemed to hear _everything_ -but she hoped it was just reciting herbs and mixtures and not him going completely mad. She had no clue how the Clan would deal with one medicine cat unconscious and another one mad, but she doubted it would be helpful at all. "Kestrelflight," she said, trying to get his attention.

The cat stopped what he was during and turned around to look at her. "You want to see Brindlepaw, right?"

Flightpaw nodded and breathed in relief when Kestrelflight didn't argue an instead led her into the den. Her sister was sleeping in a nest of moss, wool, and feathers. Her pelt was clean and dry and the sick-smell that had radiated off her in the tunnels was gone. She was breathing evenly and if Flightpaw didn't know better she would've thought that she was just taking a nap.

"Do you know if she'll wake up?" Flightpaw asked.

Kestrelflight shook his head. "No. She's stable and in no danger of dying as long as we manage to get some food and water in her, but she's out of our paws. Even StarClan can't help her now."

Flightpaw bristled at the comment. "A StarClan cat led me to her. Hollyleaf. They care for us. They might not be able to reach us but they care for us."

"I hope you're right."

* * *

Snowtuft was furious and it showed. His claws made furrows in the muddy ground of the Dark Forest; his blue eyes flashed with venom. Brindlepaw no longer cowered at the Dark Forest cat. Her sister had come for her, she had gotten her out of the tunnels. She was sure she would be able to find a way to break through the barrier the Dark Forest had put around WindClan too.

Not to mention, she had saw when her sister had been led by a StarClan cat-her aunt, in fact-into the area where she was. StarClan had not forgotten them. They still watched, even if they couldn't speak, and that gave her more strength than she had in moons. She wouldn't let the Dark Forest do anything to her family, not while she stood in their way.

* * *

In the days that followed, Flightpaw began to feel the heat like every other cat. The moisture in the grass had dried up and the sun glared down at them angrily, like it was trying to set them on fire. She was grateful for her short, sleek pelt. The stream they used as a border hadn't dried up yet, though, so they went down there every so often to wet moss and bring it to the elders who were too frail to make the trip.

Nightcloud purred when she entered the elder's den with the dripping moss. It was almost enough to make her heart stop. _Who are you and what have you done with Nightcloud?_ She wondered, but gave her and Whitetail the moss anyway.

"Is there anything else you need?" she asked.

The two she-cats shook their heads but before she could go, Nightcloud called for her.

"Flightpaw?" the black she-cat asked.

"Yes?"

"I haven't always treated you right and I wanted to apologize. Thank you for bringing Brindlepaw home. You're a worthy granddaughter of any WindClanner and I'm proud that you're mine."

Whitetail nodded in agreement. "Never doubt your place here, Flightpaw. You will always be one of us. No matter what happens."

Flightpaw felt warm all the way to her ear tips-well, she was already hot but this was a different type of warmth and she let out a raspy purr. "Thank you. I'm glad to call you my family. Both of you."

* * *

Breezepelt watched over the limp form of his daughter, ears pinned back in distress. She couldn't stay like this forever. Sooner or later, they would do something to her, injure her, maybe even threaten to kill her if he didn't do what they wanted. Heathertail had tried to calm his fears, saying that if it came down to it, he could just _pretend_ he was loyal to them, couldn't he? Ivypool had done it. But she didn't know the truth. None of them did. If he gave into them, he wasn't just giving his allegiance to the Dark Forest, but they would infuse his very spirit too. The idea of Mapleshade and Snowtuft and Sparrowfeather, Shredtail and Redwillow all in his head, fighting for control over the Clan made his fur bristle with fear. If they took over him, he knew that the Clan would soon fall into chaos. He couldn't let that happen, for the Clan's sake.

But at the same time, this was his daughter. This was one of the reasons why he rose every day in the morning. He'd seen her birth, he'd watched her take her first steps, played mossball with her and her sister, purred when she had her first bite of fresh-kill (it was a rather fluffy squirrel that she tried to eat tail-first to his and her sibling's amusement). This was one of the kits that had patched him up inside, healing the jagged edges that had been torn into him from his own kithood, and he would rather die before letting her suffer.

And then suddenly, he knew what he had to do.


	13. Chapter 11: Final Battle

A near two and a half moons had passed since Brindlepaw and Flightpaw's returned. The moor grew drier as the drought went on, but life still came and went almost like normal. Brindlepaw was in stable condition at least and that was all they could worry about now. Her family was together-sort of-and even had new additions.

Smokefower trotted beside her in the long grass, her gait heavy. "Thanks for letting my come with you, Flightpaw."

Flightpaw flicked her ear at her sister affectionately. "Well, I had to get you away from your brood before they overwhelmed you with badger rides."

Smokeflower purred. "They're great aren't they?" Like Flightpaw had predicted, Smokeflower's kits with Oatclaw had been born in the last half-moon. The four of them, Ryekit, Brightkit, Littlekit, and Wrenkit were running both parents into the ground with their unstoppable energy. Flightpaw could barely believe they were so young.

"I don't know how you stay in the nursery all day!" Flightpaw mrowwed, but nodded. "They are pretty cute."

"Well, you'll be in the warrior's den soon enough," her sister said. "You're big as some of the warriors now. Onestar has to be thinking about your assessment soon."

Flightpaw's tail twitched. Honestly, while she knew she was getting a bit too big for the apprentice's den-if the amount of times she hit her head on the ceiling was any clue-she didn't feel like rushing. She would be a warrior before long. Right now, she only cared about her family. Picking up the scent of hare, she signaled for her sister to be quiet and get into position. It'd be a while since they had partner hunted together, considering her disappearance and her sister's new litter, but she was glad to have Smokeflower along even if she was still a little awkward from kitting and nursing.

Flightpaw pounced, driving the rabbit to Smokeflower, who shot out from behind a patch of gorse. Her claws skimmed the hare but it raced pasted. She began to gave chase before realizing she wouldn't keep up and stopped, heaving. "Mouse dung!"

"It's fine," Flightpaw said. "You'll be as brilliant of a hunter as you were before once your kits are apprentices." She looked up at the sky. Storm clouds had gathered among the moor and she could smell the rain in the air and the heaviness of unreleased thunder and lightning.

"It looks like it'll rain really soon," Smokeflower said. "That's good."

"Breezepelt swore to StarClan that if it rained he would go out and swim in the river in joy," Flightpaw said to the disbelief of her sister. "No, really, I heard him!"

Smokeflower purred.

Flightpaw opened her mouth, breathing in the scents to see if anything else was in the area. Truly, having Smokeflower with her was more of a hinderance than anything, but she couldn't deny her sister company. Not after everything that happened. Not when Brindlepaw still wouldn't wake up. Flightpaw knew family was more than anything now-even if they weren't related by blood. In the beginning, when she first found out she wasn't their kin, maybe not even a WindClan cat by birth, it'd bothered her. She'd spent hours and hours thinking over it until the sun rose and set a hundred times. But now...she almost didn't care who'd fathered her, who birthed her. Harespring might've saved her life-it was the only thing she could be sure about-but Breezepelt would always be her father. Heathertail would always be her mother. If she found who her blood was one day she would be grateful but if not, she could live with it. She already had her family.

An acrid scent made Flightpaw pin her ears back and cough just as lightning flashed in the sky. The stormclouds were a dark, ugly green color and the wind had picked up from seemingly out of nowhere until it was whipping her fur. Another flash and then a loud boom made her jump at least a foot in the air and she sheepishly ran a paw over her ear, trying to hide her embarrassment while her sister stared off into the distance in shock.

It took another flash for Flightpaw to realize what her sister was staring at. "Fire!" She yowled, startling her sister out of her stupor. "Come on, the camp's on fire!"

"My kits!" Smokeflower yowled and the two of them raced toward the camp.

The fire burnt quickly through the tall dry grass and the wind broke off stalks, still flaming, and spread them across the moorland. Sharp stones fell from the sky and Flightpaw had to force herself to keep running through the bolt of fear that spread through her. She'd been through Greenleaf storms before, but never, ever like this. This wasn't even something she'd heard the Elders talk about. The wind sounded like the yowls of the damned cats in the Dark Forest and Flightpaw forced her already burning muscles to push her faster to the camp.

In the camp there was chaos as Onestar called out for the warriors to help those weaker than them. Two by two, cats escaped the burning camp and Flightpaw lead her sister over to them, hoping and praying to StarClan everyone was safe. She almost crashed into Breezepelt and Creekrunner who were helping Whitetail and Nightcloud find a space to rest. Nightcloud's flank heaved and Whitetail's pure white fur was blackened by the smoke and soot.

"Father!" Flightpaw yowled just as Onestar rose his voice.

"Is this everyone?"

"Where are my kits?" Smokeflower raced through the group but the kits weren't among the other queens. "Where are they?"

"There weren't in the nursery when we woke to Sedgewhisker's alarm," Featherpelt mewed, worry in her voice.

"Well they weren't in camp!" Oatclaw hissed.

"They must be!" Smokeflower tore up the ground with her paws. "Oh, my kits!" She moved to go forward but Oatclaw blocked her.

"You don't have the strength to go through there." His eyes were wide at the sight of the camp in flames.

"I'll go," Breezepelt said. "Everyone else, go to the RiverClan border. The water should at least halt the fire."

The cats hesitated for a moment before Breezepelt shouted again. "Now! I'll be right behind you!"

Onestar yowled a gathering call and the cats took off toward the RiverClan border. Flightpaw kept by her sister's side, noting that Heathertail was carrying the unconscious Brindlepaw on her back. The presence of something dark filled the air and she only hoped it wouldn't take more of her family.

* * *

Breezepelt headed into the thick of the burning camp. His paw pads were burning and his whiskers singed. He strained his ears for the cry of his grandkits. He would not let them die. He would _not_ let the Dark Forest take them or hurt anyone again. This wasn't just some fire, this-this firestorm was sent by the Dark Forest. If they could not have him, they'd take the entire Clan. A sickening feeling dropped into his belly like a stone when he saw the shade of a white tom with a long pink scar in front of the nursery. Without a screech that surely StarClan could hear, he threw himself at Snowtuft and bowled him away from the little bundles that lay in the dug out burrow of the nursery. The kits were crying in fear and pain but Breezepelt had no time to turn to them before Snowtuft came at him again with even more force, knocking him backward. A wetness oozed down Breezepelt's side and he was dimly aware that it was blood, but he only returned the favor with a vicious bite onto Snowtuft's ear, ripping it off. Another pair of jaws met him from behind, yanking him back by his tail. He cried out in pain as the tortoiseshell and white queen ripped into him with her claws.

"You promised they meant nothing!" She hissed, fur bristling out. "You said the moment you joined you were _my_ kit now!"

"Things change, Mapleshade!" Breezepelt stood up on shaky legs, only to be knocked down by Snowtuft. "I have!"

"Well, you know you can't break a promise without consequences, now don't you?" She hissed and made for his daughter's kits.

She never laid a claw on them because before she could even reach them a blur of cinnamon fur slammed into her side. "Get away from my family, you fox-heart!"

Breezepelt's amber eyes widened at the sight of his adopted daughter. She stood taller than both Dark Forest cats, her tail lashing in anger, her black-tufted ears pinned back. Blood dripped from her muzzle and white fur was imbedded in her claws.

"Flightpaw!" He said, astonished.

"I couldn't leave you. Something felt wrong and when you didn't come out I had to do something," the she-cat hissed her words, but the hiss was directed toward Mapleshade.

Something like fire filled Breezepelt's limbs and he stood up renewed strength. "Get the kits, get out of here. I'll hold them off."

"But-But-!"

"Go!" he ordered and Flightpaw obeyed, placing her three of her sister's kits on her back and grabbing the remaining by it's scruff. Breezepelt slashed furiously at the bloodied Snowtuft when he tried to go after her. "Get away from my _family!"_ Snowtuft fell and dissipated into the air. Gone, forever.

The fire burned on as the two remaining cats fought and Breezepelt knew how it would end. A vicious bite to Mapleshade's throat left the she-cat's body going up in smoke and Breezepelt coughed, collapsing.

"You might've fooled me before, Mapleshade. But not anymore. I know what's important now."

The fire continued to burn as the air left Breezepelt's body and he collapsed and breathed no more.


	14. Epilogue

Epilogue

Her cinnamon colored fur was groomed to perfection without even a trace of the soot that still lingered in the camp. Rain had come and lots of it, bringing back life to the moors that was sorely needed before Leaf-Bare. The other clans had granted them some hunting rights, seeing the vicious storm that tore up their land and how the others were miraculously spared. WindClan had lost only two cats but there'd only been one body to mourn. Poor Whitetail had been too frail and the excursion and smoke had killed her right as they'd reached safety. Four kits tumbled in the nursery with a dark grey queen watching over them with loving eyes. Among her were two more queens; one black and one mottled brown. The medicine apprentice had woken up soon after the fire was put out.

The customary call was made and the cats gathered around the Tallrock to see the cinnamon-colored she-cat step forward beneath their leader. She'd gown from her days as a lanky kit into a tall, agile warrior and though she stood out with her strong, long legs and her tall stature, she was never more right at home.

"I, Onestar, leader of WindClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn. Flightpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do," she said, her entire body trembling in pride.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Flightpaw, you requested something of me and I shall grant it. From this moment you will now be known as Flyingbreeze. StarClan honors your loyalty and spirit, and we welcome you as a full member of WindClan."

The joyous cries of multiple cats could be heard, but there were two that remained silent even as they shouted up to StarClan. Breezepelt's eyes glimmered and he blinked away the mist that clouded them for a moment, his heart soaring at the sight of his daughter accepting her warrior name. He knew she'd requested something, it was why he'd been allowed to watch, but never did he think it would be _his_ name as well as her own.

"She's a good cat," the she-cat beside him murmured. Other than the green of her eyes she looked exactly like Breezepelt. "She has a good future in her Clan."

"I have to say," Breezepelt mewed, "I never thought you'd be the one to guide me to StarClan. Or really that I'd-" He was stopped by a fluffy black tail covering his mouth.

"Mouse-brain," Hollyleaf chided. "You earned your redemption. The Dark Forest will bother no Clan any longer. The new generation will have a chance to grow without the weight of the past upon them."

"And we will be there to guide them," Breezepelt said, a purr rumbling in his chest. "They will go far."

With those words the two black cats sprinted up to the stars.

 **AN:**

 **SOOOOO that's the end folks! How did you like it? I know there are some unanswered questions, especially pertaining to Flyingbreeze (Do you like the name?) so I'll do a little FAQ.**

Q. Why did you choose Flyingbreeze for a Warrior name?

A. I realized it was really hard to find a good suffix for Flight- and I knew I wanted her to request -breeze as a suffix so I just figured she'd feel like "Flying" worked as a better suffix and Onestar agreed.

Q. Who are Flyingbreeze's parents?

A. Part of the whole point of this fic was that her parents and family ended up being WindClan and the ones she loved and who raised her. In the end, she didn't care about who she was related to blood-wise. However, for those curious, she is the daughter of Harespring and a SkyClan cat that died giving birth. Harespring died protecting her from a Dark Forest cat.

Q. What are you writing next?

A. Well, Fanfiction is only a hobby because I'm an actual author in real life working with a Big Five publishing company and everything so as you probably noticed I'm not that scheduled when it comes to writing it. (Go ahead, try to find out who I am if you want lol) But I do have ideas-one that I'm thinking of is a "What-If" situation where Ivypool died and Hollyleaf lived and how'd she deal and what her life would be like.

ANYWAY, thanks for reading!


	15. FAQ

Some FAQs I got about the ending of Redemption I've decided to publicly answer

1\. So Breezepelt, where did he end up? How did this all revolve around his death?

A. Breezepelt was the last link that The Dark Forest had to the Clans due to his own inner hatred. However, Breezepelt, through his family, managed to overcome it and in the process sacrificed himself out of selfless love for his family which destroyed the link to WindClan the Dark Forest had.

2\. Who led Breezepelt to StarClan?

A. Hollyleaf led Breezepelt to StarClan as she best understood his mental state, having undergone her own redemption in OoTS. IMO the two of them are very close in StarClan and Breezepelt is happy he has a sister.

3\. What is Brindlepaw's Medicine Cat name going to be?

A. Brindlepaw's medicine cat name is Brindleheart because she 'kept heart' and faith in her Clan and StarClan during her imprisonment in the Dark Forest.

4\. Does Flyingbreeze end up with anyone?

A. Flyingbreeze and Creekrunner end up together, though not for a long time after. They are not related despite looking similar-they're both the same breed of cat, however. Both were based off of Abyssianian cats with are known for their large ears, long legs, boundless energy, cinnamon colored fur, and tendency to get into trouble. I had a cat like that once named Milo who would get into so much trouble. He ended up escaping the house (which he'd done before) during a drought and unfortunately we found him later dead from dehydration. I've always loved that breed of cat.

5\. Who else died in the fire?

A. Other than Breezepelt, only Whitetail died in the fire. Moons later, Nightcloud passes peacefully in her sleep after seeing her great-grandkits get apprenticed. Breezepelt leads her to StarClan.

6\. Why do we never learn Flyingbreeze's parents?

A. I wanted the fic to be about how family is not necessarily biological ties but those who love and support you. Flyingbreeze starts out as a bit of an outcast and feels left out and bothered by the lack of knowledge of who her family is and by the end she's confident and accepts without a doubt that Heathertail, Breezepelt, Smokeflower, Brindleheart, Oatclaw, Emberfoot, Nightcloud, and Whitetail are her family. Similar to what I imagine those who are adopted must feel-they may be curious as to their birth parents but their 'real' parents are the ones who raised them and loved them.

7\. What about Crowfeather?

A. At the end or near the end, most of Crowfeather's 'family' (aka Nightcloud, Breezepelt, etc) move on knowing that he's a rather toxic cat and heal the wounds he made. Crowfeather does go on to stay with Fernshadow. Fernshadow feels slightly awkward when surrounded by the others.


End file.
